Shyne Graham was born more than five months premature. Now, after six months in the NICU, she weighs almost 10 pounds and is a “chubby baby,” according to her mom.
CREDIT: NYU LANGONE STAFF
At ٺƵ Hospital—Long Island, its world-renowned Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is celebrating a rite of passage for a baby who survived amazing odds and is considered a tiny miracle.
Shyne Graham, from Baldwin, was born 24 weeks and 3 days premature. Weighing just 1 pound, 11 ounces, she was the size of a Barbie doll. Shyne was in respiratory distress and had to be intubated for three months, while having two rounds of E. coli infection and strep throat. But now, six months after her birth, Shyne will be discharged from the hospital with all the pomp and circumstance she deserves, through an ongoing graduation program that helps parents of preemies and their babies commemorate this major milestone.
“We are always excited about babies going home, especially our ‘old-timers’—babies here more than three months—because they beat the odds of surviving every day,” said LaShon Pitter, RNC, nurse manager of the NICU. “The graduations celebrate not only the baby’s journey but also the parents’ courageous journey out of the NICU and into their next stage of life.”
For Shyne’s mom, Phaebe Turner, the graduation is bittersweet. Turner had a miscarriage on Mother’s Day in 2022. Shyne was supposed to be born close to Mother’s Day this year, but she arrived on January 24. After months of hoping and praying, the baby’s close-knit Caribbean family can finally celebrate the official homecoming of a new generation.
“I want to walk around the block with Shyne in the sunshine and can’t wait to see her in a stroller and car seat,” said Turner, who suffered from pneumonia, an E. coli infection, and strep throat herself after undergoing an emergency cesarean delivery, and who couldn’t even hold Shyne when her daughter was first born. The grateful mom commends ٺƵ for the care that both she and her child received. “Shyne now weighs almost 10 pounds and is a chubby baby. God has given us a blessing. Shyne is fine.”
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Rosemary Gomez
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