Yahoo Lifestyle Baby Born Weighing Less Than 2 Lbs. Comes Home After Months-Long NICU Stay: 'Over the Moon,' Says Mom
“She’s catching up and it’s so good to see her thriving,” Savanna Buller tells PEOPLE
Courtesy of the Buller Family
Margo's older brothers and sister welcomed her home.Savanna Buller is adjusting to life with four kids under one roof now that her youngest, daughter Margo, is finally home from the hospital!
“Life here at home is amazing. I am over the moon,” Buller, a 29-year-old NICU nurse, tells PEOPLE. “I kept trying to tell myself, this is real life. Yesterday, I kept thinking I’m about to wake up from this dream and realize, oh man, that was a good dream. It didn’t even feel real. I’m so excited."
For the Buller family, the road home was a nearly nine-month-long journey that started last summer, when Savanna went into labor at 25 weeks after suffering from preeclampsia.
When the NICU nurse and her husband Daniel, 30, welcomed their youngest child on Aug. 14, 2023, Margo weighed just 1 lb., 5 oz.
Related: Premature Baby Born at 1 Lb. Heads Home After Spending 16 Months at Hospital
Shortly after her birth, Margo developed a life-threatening illness, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and was airlifted to Children’s Hospital New Orleans, which is three-and-a-half hours away from home.
The high school sweethearts, who also share 9-year-old son Owen, 6-year-old daughter Ollie, and 3-year-old son Noah weren’t sure Margo was going to survive the flight — but the preemie’s fighting spirit wowed her family and doctors alike.
And last week, the proud parents returned home to Lake Charles with Margo, who now weighs over 14 lbs.
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"Our ride home was great, Margo, she slept the whole way,” Savanna shares. “She’s a good car rider. I was worried, she’s never really been in a car seat or even in a vehicle, but she did good. And then we arrived home, all of our family was here waiting in the driveway. It was wonderful."
Savanna continues, “And our kids, they all had on their matching little shirts, big brother, big sister. And my coworkers had actually put up a sign in our front yard that said, ‘Welcome home, Margo.’ So I literally teared up when I saw that, I was so surprised.”
Courtesy of The Buller Family
With their youngest now finally home, the mother of four is enjoying every minute, especially since Margo sleeps like a champ — the first night home she slept for 10 hours!
Savanna adds that her youngest is “finally on the growth curve" and is in the 50th percentile for weight.
“She’s catching up and it’s so good to see her thriving,” the mom tells PEOPLE. “It’s so cute. Whenever she sees her siblings — we would FaceTime every day in the NICU and she could recognize their faces through FaceTime — but now she just grins and grabs at their little faces. I get chills just talking about it because my heart just, I feel like it’s going to skip beats and explode.”
Savanna adds, “We cannot wait to spend the summer together. I feel so lucky. I know I said that early on how lucky I felt to call Margo ours, but I really do truly feel lucky.”
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