Caring for complex cases
Gary mother, baby find network of support at Community Healthcare System
Endometriosis. An incompetent cervix. Advanced maternal age. Jami Wilson had the makings of a high-risk pregnancy.
She and her husband, Tony Wilson, moved to Gary not long after she became pregnant. Finding a physician she trusted to handle the complexity of her health was a priority.
“I really wanted to find a doctor who had a specialty in endometriosis and all of the complications that can come with it,” she said.
In Community Healthcare System, she found a whole team. That team of specialists cared not only for her but for her daughter, Rebeccah, who was born prematurely with considerable medical needs.
After receiving around-the-clock care in Community Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 132 days, Rebeccah left the hospital on Feb. 9, 2023, amid a parade of applause from those who cared for her.
“After 132 days, you can’t help but become family,” her mother said of the bond formed with Rebeccah’s healthcare providers. “They clapped and cheered as she left the hospital. She knew she was the princess of the hospital.”
Community Hospital operates a certified Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with a team of neonatal specialists, physician assistants and nurse practitioners available 24/7. The unit uses advanced procedures to care for premature newborns.
Wilson, who was 39 when Rebeccah was born, also appreciated the bedside livestreaming video system used in the NICU. The feature allows family members to view the baby remotely via a secure online portal. When Wilson and her husband returned to work, they visited Rebeccah in the NICU twice a day and used the video system to monitor her the rest of the time.
“I loved the cameras that let us check in on her,” Wilson said. “Probably one-third of the photos I have of her are screenshots from the camera.”
When Rebeccah was born Sept. 30, 2022, she weighed 480 grams and measured 11.32 inches long. Her eyes were closed. On Oct. 19, 2022, she opened them.
“It was crazy for us,” Wilson said. “I felt like we were watching her grow from the outside as she would in the womb.”
Each time Rebeccah encountered a medical obstacle – whether suffering a brain bleed, needing a feeding tube or when her heart stopped beating and she needed to be resuscitated – she bounced back.
“It was miracle after miracle,” Wilson said. “We thank God for the nurses and doctors and everyone. They were the hands and feet that brought her to where she is now.”
The staff was supportive and encouraging but also honest and managed expectations for the Wilsons.
“They never sugar-coated anything,” Wilson said. “But they were very compassionate.”
Carla Meyer, director of Patient Care Services at Community Hospital, said the skilled NICU team and advanced treatment options help support babies like Rebeccah every day.
“Knowing that Rebeccah is thriving today and that our team had a meaningful impact on her early development is wonderful,” Meyer said. “Such positive feedback from Jami about her experience at Community Healthcare System confirms we are living up to our high standard of care.”
Now, Rebeccah requires only an inhaler and thyroid medication to maintain her health. She regularly attends physical therapy at Community Hospital Fitness Pointe and continues to develop.
“She is very outgoing,” Wilson said of her daughter. “She knows she’s the princess. She’s stubborn as heck. She loves other babies. She loves green beans, Cocomelon and anything that lights up.”
Babies born prematurely often need two years to catch up developmentally to babies born full term, and Rebeccah is on track, Wilson said.
Pediatric therapists at Community Healthcare System work with children of all ages, from premature infants to high schoolers. Each session is tailored to a patient’s specific needs and goals.
“Physical therapy for children at this young age often involves therapeutic play and games to build balance and coordination,” said Liz Zurek, supervisor of Pediatric Therapy Services for Community Hospital.
Rebeccah has been a fighter since the moment she entered the world.
“When she came out, she cried,” Wilson said. “It was beautiful. I expected her not to be alive.” Nurses cleaned and swaddled the baby and placed her on Wilson’s chest. She and her husband took turns holding her.
“She made little cooing sounds,” Wilson said. “She was so happy sleeping on me. When they pulled her off to check her heartbeat, she threw a fit.”
Born just shy of 23 weeks gestation, Rebeccah was not expected to survive. NICU team members gently warned Wilson that the outcome likely would not be good, but they would do what they could.
The Wilsons turned to what sustained them in the months leading up to Rebeccah’s birth – prayer. Their church family also initiated a prayer chain, a frequent occurrence during Wilson’s complicated pregnancy.
Because of risk factors, Wilson had gone for weekly medical appointments during her pregnancy. When it was time to learn the gender of the baby, the ultrasound technician noticed something abnormal and referred Wilson to Community Hospital.
“They brought me a wheelchair,” Wilson recalled. “That’s when I realized how serious it was.”
She learned that the placental membrane protecting her daughter was thin, and because of Wilson’s weakened cervix, a stitch was needed to keep her cervix closed for the remainder of her pregnancy.
“I was already high risk,” Wilson said. “This made me really high risk. There was a chance I could lose the baby.”
Wilson and her husband, along with their extended family and church family, prayed.
“My husband and I are church-goers,” Wilson said. “We are strong believers in Jesus Christ. ‘Whatever happens, we know we will see her in heaven,’ we thought.”
Wilson also is grateful for the knowledge and skill of Obstetrician/Gynecologist Tracy Collins, MD, who is affiliated with Community Hospital, for her care during the high-risk pregnancy.
“She is absolutely amazing,” Wilson said. “She’s the bee’s knees! I’m so thankful I found her. If she hadn’t taken action, I don’t believe Rebeccah would be here.”
Wilson was blown away by the love, care and outpouring of support from her medical team throughout her pregnancy. She was on a first-name basis with Rebeccah’s nurses and keeps in touch with them.
“When we had to leave, it was bittersweet,” she said. “The nurses really trained us how to be parents. They taught us how to feed her, how to change her, how to move her, what her signals are and what they mean. You always hear about parents or sisters coming over for the first few weeks when a baby comes home. We didn’t have that, but it didn’t matter because the nurses prepared us for everything.”
Experiencing pregnancy complications, delivering prematurely and watching her daughter treated by a skilled and loving NICU team convinced Wilson that, if she gets pregnant again, Community Healthcare System is where she wants to be.
“We were treated like family,” Wilson said.
