Brynleigh, like her older brother, entered the world earlier than expected. She was born at 27 weeks and weighed 2 lbs 7 oz. Brynleigh spent her first 61 days of life in Gundersen Health System’s NICU.
As with her brother and fellow CMN Hero Trey’s birth story, Brynleigh’s parents, Matthew and Elizabeth, were not anticipating their daughter’s early arrival. The family found themselves returning to all too familiar circumstances with an extended NICU stay following Brynleigh’s birth.
Immediately, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals was there to again assist the family with gas gift cards for trips home and meal vouchers for the hospital cafeteria, just as they did two years prior when Trey was born. CMN Hospitals also funded the isolettes that most premature babies live in for part of their NICU stay.
Brynleigh was born with a ventricular septal heart defect, and thanks to the fantastic care and monitoring she received from Gundersen’s Pediatric Cardiology team and Christen Chamberland, MD, the defect eventually healed on its own.
Matthew and Elizabeth are forever grateful for the assistance and medical care their family received when both of their children were born, especially during the moments when they needed a helping hand the most.
“Prior to our kids being born, Matt supported CMN through his work with each paycheck,” said Elizabeth, “and it was great to know the help was available at a time in our lives when we needed it most.”
Today, Brynleigh is a happy, healthy 3-year-old girl who loves playing at the park. Her favorite toys and prized possessions are baby dolls and ponies.
Matthew and Elizabeth are proud to watch the dynamic sibling duo, Trey and Brynleigh, grow and experience a thriving childhood—a vision that once felt unknown early on in their journey.
When Brynleigh grows up, she wants to be a life-saving hero to others as a firefighter; much like the life-saving heroes and medical providers that cared for her early on. For now, she is an inspiring champion all her own as one of this year’s CMN Heroes.