Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us. – Boris Pasternak
From Day One, baby Jonathan has been full of surprises for his parents, Danielle and James. After a miscarriage and several years of trying, they had given up on having a baby of their own. Danielle’s pregnancy came as a wonderful surprise to them both. Early on, Danielle was convinced their baby was a girl – so when she had testing done at fifteen weeks due to it being a high-risk pregnancy, she surprised James by announcing that he was in fact going to have a little boy. Baby Jonathan was definitely starting to learn to keep his mom and dad on their toes before he even arrived!
James and Danielle also discovered some sobering news along with the gender reveal. Baby Jonathan had Downs Syndrome, which often comes with complications. Five weeks later, they received an unsettling shock – Baby Jonathan had a heart defect that would require a major surgery and long hospital stay when he was just a few months old.
While the new parents tried to take this information in stride, they were worried. Danielle was trying to cope with the news that her baby boy would have additional hurdles to face in life, on top of experiencing all of the typical new mom fears. Then, COVID-19 made its way to the United States.
Danielle went into labor in early May. When she was told she was about to go into an emergency C-section because labor wasn’t progressing, it was without James by her side due to COVID restrictions. While he was ultimately able to be present for the procedure and got to see his baby boy, Danielle developed a fever and, because of COVID concerns, had to wait agonizing hours to see Jonathan until her test ultimately came back negative.
Danielle spent five days at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, CA after her C-section, and Jonathan was in the NICU due to his cardiac abnormality. While she was able to be close to him while she was in the hospital, life got much more complicated after her discharge. While they had been placed on the waitlist, the Sacramento Ronald McDonald House was closed to new families given COVID restrictions. For the first couple weeks of his life, Danielle and James had to drive two hours each way in an unreliable vehicle to spend time with Jonathan. Danielle was exhausted, scared, and feeling unsure of herself in her new role as his mom, and having to say goodbye to him every day was tearing her heart in two. One evening, she tearfully told James she couldn’t come to visit anymore because it was just too hard to tell him goodbye every time. The next morning, the Ronald McDonald House called to tell her they were open to new families, and they had a room for Danielle and James.
Danielle and James stayed at the House for thirty days during their first stay. When asked how the Charity helped them during this time, Danielle says there are no words adequate enough to describe the relief they felt while they were staying at the Ronald McDonald House. They were able to be just a few minutes away from baby Jonathan, which lessened the concern about their vehicle and relaxed financial stresses as they no longer had to spend money on enough gas to travel four hours every day. Towards the end of their stay, James had to return to work, so Danielle stayed at the Ronald McDonald House by herself until discharge.
Baby Jonathan wasn’t done surprising his parents just yet. Two months later, Danielle and James were back with us for his cardiac surgery. Prior to birth, they discovered that his heart defect was not as severe as they initially thought, so his expected recovery was 10-14 days in the hospital. Jonathan knocked recovery out of the park and was discharged in about a week. He and his mom and dad are now back at home, and the new parents are enjoying every minute of it. Danielle says her favorite time with him is when he first wakes up because he loves to talk, smiles as widely as he can, and wants to cuddle.
When asked to describe the ups and downs in the first few months of Jonathan’s life, Danielle says it was a journey but it is now just a memory – Jonathan is going to grow big and strong and get to do the things he wants, and with his cardiac surgery, he won’t have to work so hard to breathe. He now gets to live life as a healthy baby boy. Danielle and James thanked the staff at the Ronald McDonald House for their support and care during their time there. Danielle said that when she had to stay behind at the Ronald McDonald House after James went back to work, she was “alone but never really alone” because the staff had become her family-away-from-family.
We are happy and honored to have been there for Danielle, James, and baby Jonathan, and we look forward to regular updates from the new parents and their darling baby boy, who has reminded us all that the biggest of surprises can come in the smallest of packages.
