At 25 weeks into her pregnancy, Katya and her husband Caleb were celebrating their babymoon, four hours from home, when they rushed to a local ER and learned that Katya's water had broken. The hospital lacked a NICU, and they faced the possibilities of delivering a baby that night or spending months far away from home, enduring Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's in a distant hospital. Taking a risk, Caleb and Katya decided to drive to their home hospital in the middle of the night, seeking proximity to family, home, and critical access to a NICU for Simon's chance of survival. 

Katya spent six weeks in the antepartum special care unit doing everything she could to prolong delivery and stop labor before Simon was born eight weeks premature at exactly 32 weeks. Weighing 4lbs 14oz, Simon spent four weeks in the NICU, building strength in his lungs and learning to eat on his own.

When Katya was admitted to the hospital, she was not even in her third trimester, and barely prepared for Simon's arrival. Hospitalization shattered the expectations Katya and Caleb had for pregnancy, delivery, and welcoming a newborn. What was supposed to be a joyful time turned into a period of fear and uncertainty. Once Simon was born, Katya not only had to recover from labor but also from her six weeks of bedrest. Despite the relief of Katya finally being able to come home, the days became a blur of recovery, pumping, and commuting back and forth to the NICU, leaving them feeling like there was simply not enough time in the day.

Now that Simon is finally home, Katya and Caleb are finding a moment to catch their breath and begin to create a thoughtful and joyful space in their lives and home for Simon, a task made possible by the support received in preparing a nursery for him.