05/29/2026
The Lee and Susan Moss Family NICU has touched so many lives in our community, offering hope and healing to our tiniest and most vulnerable patients and their families. We’re incredibly honored to welcome one of those families to share their journey at our upcoming golf tournament, benefiting the Dr. Jim Boerner Nursery-Pediatric Fund.
💗 Hear from Lydia, Millie's mom, about their powerful NICU journey:
"Brandon and myself would like to start off by thanking every single person, from the bottom of our heart, for taking exceptional care of all 3 of us, especially Millie. The NICU holds a special place in our hearts, not only was our daughter, Millie, taken care of in there but our niece, Evelyn, was 3 months prior to Millie. Our stay was fairly uneventful, but we learned great patience and made lifelong friends along the way. Over our 76 days, we got to see two women go off on maternity leave, some go on vacation, celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving with them, and even be NICU neighbors to a family friend for one night. As an associate at Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford, I occasionally cross paths with these people and I get so excited to see them outside of the NICU walls.
Millie was born at 29 weeks and 2 days gestation, just two days after my water broke. She weighed 2 lbs 8 oz and was 15 inches long. I did not know something so fragile could be so resilient, but I quickly learned how amazing these babies are. Prior to delivering her, Christy, NP, and Dr. Parker both came to my bedside and talked realistically, yet optimistically about what it may look like to deliver so soon. The moment we heard that first cry after delivery, I knew that she was going to be okay. She was promptly put on cpap and remained on it for about 4 weeks. She absolutely HATED the cpap prongs, and her feeding tube. After that, she was on room air for a few weeks but due to anemia, desaturation with bottles, and increased spells, she bounced back and forth from nasal cannula. She did have a blood transfusion a few weeks before she was discharged, which gave her little body the boost she needed to thrive. Millie began taking her bottles like a champ, just struggled with reflux. We were finally on the dreaded spell countdown, which started over a few different times. The day finally came, she passed her car seat test and was ready to move in with her parents! Millie is now approx 17 lbs, rolling constantly and so close to sitting without support. Her favorite food is carrots and she enjoys anything outside. The NICU played such a huge role in one of the most important seasons of our lives and we want to give back in any way we can. We are very thankful for the doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, and occupational therapists that we came into contact with every single day, and those behind the scenes not mentioned. We give God all the glory and praise him forever for our Mighty Millie.
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Your support of this golf tournament and the Dr. Jim Boerner Nursery-Pediatric Fund helps make moments like these possible for families like The Allisons.
Learn more or donate here: https://rutherfordfoundation.org/
