By Madi Blake
Mommy to Theo
micro preemie born at 25 weeks
October 2023
Theophilus (Theo) was born at just 25 weeks—a true micro preemie. It all happened so fast—it was crazy, unexpected, and all of a sudden. At 24 weeks, I was hospitalized and put on bedrest for severe preeclampsia. I hadn’t been considered high-risk or anything, so the plan was to stay on bedrest for at least a month. But just four days later, I had to have an emergency c-section.
I just expected to have a standard pregnancy. But it was far from standard when it got cut short. We didn’t get to do maternity photos, a baby shower, or the 3D ultrasound we had planned. At 24 weeks, everything changed—and we still had no idea Theo would need to be delivered so quickly. There were so many unknowns. To be honest, there still are.
I never expected to have an emergency c-section. We were monitoring the baby when the doctor came in and said, “You need to call your husband—we need to deliver your baby right now.” I had actually planned to deliver in the low-intervention room and was hoping for a natural birth. But now, because of the classical c-section, I’ll have to deliver by c-section every time. I can’t go past 36–37 weeks in future pregnancies. It’s crazy to think I’ll never be 40 weeks pregnant or have a natural birth.
Theo spent 7 months in the NICU before being discharged with oxygen and a g-tube for feeding. He had grade 4 bilateral brain bleeds, severe BPD lung disease, ROP eye disease, PDA and PFO heart defects, and more. Recently, he was also diagnosed with infantile spasms, after first being diagnosed with focal epilepsy.
How has this impacted us? Honestly, it might be easier to ask how it hasn’t impacted us.
My husband and I are small business owners, but I’m no longer part of the day-to-day operations. I have 3–4 appointments a week with Theo locally, and another 3–4 per month in Kansas City. Even simple outings look different—we try to avoid crowds, and we’re always managing his oxygen.
We’re praying hard that we can keep Theo’s seizures under control, but there’s always a chance of relapse or that the infantile spasms could turn into another form of epilepsy. He’s currently on 1 liter of oxygen and fully g-tube dependent, but we’ve started tasting baby food now! He’s followed by many specialists and continues to surprise everyone.
I just want to give Theo the best life we possibly can. He’s expected to be diagnosed with cerebral palsy around age two, but I never want that diagnosis to define him. He’s already done so much more than the doctors ever predicted he would.
The pictures On Angels’ Wings has provided us mean everything. And each time, they’ve represented something different.
The first session—we didn’t even know if we’d get another. Theo was just a week old and incredibly sick. I hadn’t even been able to hold him yet. Those photos were so special. The second session felt like a celebration of his progress in a new hospital—the one that became his home for over six months. And the last shoot… it was joy. It was home. It was the first time we got to celebrate being home together as a family. And we had the same photographer for each shoot, so she got to see his transformation with her own eyes.
To a family like ours, I would say: schedule a shoot as soon as possible. It is so important to celebrate the big and the small moments—and to capture them together as a family. We are not promised tomorrow.
