LOUISVILLE, Colo. — A Louisville mother of a micro-preemie baby — given a less than 1% chance of survival — is planning to run 147 miles to bring awareness to her son, who succeeded at winning his own race for survival.
A micro-preemie is a baby born before the 26th week of pregnancy, or who weighs less than 28 ounces.
Stephanie Hauser had her son, Zev, when she was only 23 weeks pregnant.
“I had an infection in my uterus that they think I contracted at just about six or seven weeks gestation with him," Hauser said. "I went into the hospital thinking I had the flu. I had a fever that I couldn't get down ... then I went into sudden labor. And once that happened, it sort of clicked. Everybody realized that the infection was actually in my uterus and had infected the baby and the placenta and all these things."
Her only option was to have the baby at that time, but Hauser said doctors told her he had less than a 1% chance of survival through birth. Despite the odds, her son survived.
“He weighed one pound four ounces when he was born. Curled up, he could fit into the palm of my hands," Hauser said. “We couldn't touch him. You know, we couldn't hold him. We could just sort of put one finger on him at a time. You have to be really delicate with their skin.”
Despite that, Hauser said her son's personality shined through. Zev spent 147 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) before going home.
“You're sitting in this moment where you're watching the impossible happen right before your eyes with this little impossible human that was never supposed to make it to begin with. And he just keeps going and keeps going. And then you're, like, released into the wild," Hauser said.
Now, the Hauser family has started a nonprofit organization called 4those, aimed at helping families living through similar situations.
“Our big vision is that we're building essentially a camp that is going to be like a retreat center where it's going to be fully adapted state-of-the-art technology for kids with disabilities that come out of the NICU. So that could be kids with cerebral palsy, blindness, all these different outcomes that can come from being born so early," Hauser said.
She is planning to run 147 miles this September as a fundraiser for the organization.
There is also a NICU family party planned for June that is free to attend. Hauser described it as a "mini-fair" that is scheduled for June 17 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Louisville.
To learn more about the organization, visit 4those.org.
