In May 2014, Jordan and Molly Rogers arrived in Virginia from Salt Lake City, Utah, to attend Jordan’s brother’s law school graduation. The first night they were here, Molly, who was 24 weeks pregnant, noticed that she was bleeding a little bit, and before she knew it, she was in labor. Eventually an emergency C-section was performed at Inova Alexandria Hospital; their baby, Jack, ended up at the Charlotte and Walter Jones Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Stressful Situation
It was an incredibly stressful situation for the Rogers family. “We’re in a state with no family; my brother is in Charlottesville [two hours away]; we have three days of clothing; and terrible odds that our baby would survive, and if he does, even lower odds that he’ll be normal,” says Jordan.
“All of this hit in a 24-hour period, which was terrifying.”
Fortunately, the staff at Inova Alexandria Hospital’s NICU and the surrounding community embraced the Rogerses’ situation, giving them some much-needed support.
“The nurses in labor delivery were lifesavers,” says Molly. “They were basically what got us through. When [Jack] was born, we didn’t have any family out there, so the nurses and the doctors became our family.”
The newly renovated, fully-staffed, 16-bed Level III NICU cares round-the-clock for newborns who are premature or have special needs. Specially trained, board-certified neonatologists, as well as specialized nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists and nutritionists staff the family-centered NICU.
“Our NICU is equipped to handle babies like Jack,” says Lesley Chauncey, RN, CEIM, MSN, nurse manager. “We have the resources and staff to help give babies like him the best chance at life. We take great pride in the care we provide here.”
Thankfully, baby Jack, who spent 10 weeks in the NICU, is now healthy and back in Salt Lake City with his parents. However, the transfer wasn’t easy on the Rogers family or the Inova staff.
“It was really harder than we imagined; technically we were going home, but it felt like we were leaving home,” Jordan says.
Learn more about Inova Alexandria Hospital’s childbirth services, including NICU >
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My daughter, Christina Addison was born on 8/11/88. She was born btwn 24-26 weeks neo-natal gestation age. She was 12-1/2" long and weighed a whopping 1 pound 6 ozs!!! In 88 this was all new. She was the youngest and lightest weight child in NICU for 9yrs. Wonderful nurses took unbelievable and some times made up ways of taking care of her. 4"square pc of gauze folded to a triangle and taped on. She spent 98 days in the hospital! I can say most happily that she's a fully functioning 31yr old young lady. LaVerna Selkreig, was her charge nurse. All of the ladies in there took care of all the babies but each one had their main child. God bless all those ppl that take care of our beautiful premies!!! My wife wrote a poem that hung on the walls for years. We're so thankful for all the caring these people provide. Doesn't even add the love they get from doing this type of work. God Bless you all