Olympia couple rings in daughter’s first birthday by giving back to Tacoma General NICU

Premature babies are often celebrated for their incredible strength and resilience. These attributes fit almost 1-year-old Eliana de La Cruz — and her mom, Genevieve — to a tee.

Before 2020, Genevieve and her husband had been trying to get pregnant for about four and a half years. During that time, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition that can make it difficult to have a baby.

But amid the COVID-19 shutdown, Genevieve finally had a positive pregnancy test. Aside from morning sickness, everything was completely normal — until she lost a significant amount of her mucus plug, which forms at the cervix and keeps bacteria from reaching the baby. This plug naturally dislodges shortly before birth, the, but Genevieve was only 24 weeks into her pregnancy.

“At this point, I thought I should probably go to the hospital,” Genevieve remembers. “And everything was normal — blood pressure and stress tests for the baby were normal. Then they do a physical exam, and immediately the nurse gets quiet. I was dilated 4 cm, and my amniotic sac was coming out of my birth canal. That’s when they had me ambulance over to Tacoma General.”

MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is the only Level IV NICU in Southwest Washington, offering the most advanced level of care available in the state. Once in the hands of this expert team — whose compassionate, state-of-the-art care is helped, in part, by community donations — Genevieve was put on bed rest to help her try and keep from delivering Eliana for as long as possible.

Eliana grows strong, supported by NICU staff

On November 23, 2020, Eliana — “Ellie” for short — alerted Mom that she was ready to enter the world by kicking like crazy. She was born the following evening at 26 weeks and wheeled off to the NICU soon after.

Over the next 108 days, Ellie grew stronger, helped along by knowledgeable doctors, kindhearted nurses and other passionate NICU staff. The only speed bump was an infection, which she overcame thanks to her care team and fighting spirit.

“Ellie was the strongest baby in the NICU,” Genevieve says. “I feel like it’s a pattern with her. She just knows what to do, you know? It’s crazy because she’s this little baby, but it’s true.”

This fierceness also characterizes Genevieve, who was determined to do everything within her power to make sure her daughter was all right. She researched medical journals, joined Facebook groups for families that had “micro preemies” (infants with a birth weight less than 17.6 oz) and asked questions.

“The thing that stands out to me is how big of an advocate Gen was for Ellie,” says Sarah Day, RN, one of Ellie’s NICU nurses. “She did her research to find alternative solutions. I appreciated that because it helped us to keep an open mind and see things a little differently. I truly believe that babies with the best outcomes have the biggest advocates in their families.”

Sarah and her team went above and beyond for Ellie and her family during their long journey. In addition to providing lifesaving care, they assisted with the little things, from documenting Genevieve holding her daughter to letting her and her husband take the lead when it came to milestones, such as the first diaper change.

“Those NICU nurses are literally angels. They were always nice about explaining things to me, and they all gave me good advice,” Genevieve says. “And Dr. Sato and Dr. Tan-Dy were the best doctors to me, helping me feel less anxious about everything. They took the time to always check on Ellie and me. Tacoma General is literally the best hospital, and I am only going to give birth there because I wouldn’t trust anybody else with my babies.”

Honoring Ellie’s experience with generosity

Today, Ellie is a healthy, social baby who loves to crawl all over her playpen and has a deep fascination with whatever her parents are into, be it their phones or grown-up food.

“Eliana started solids recently, passed her Bayley test at her NICU follow-up and is just the happiest baby ever,” Genevieve says.

In honor of Ellie’s first birthday, Genevieve and her husband asked family and friends to donate monetarily to the NICU or purchase items, such as clothing for preemies and cribs, from a customized Amazon list. And on Nov. 24, the couple plans to give generously themselves to the place that set their daughter up for success.

“I heard that in the last year or two, there’s been a huge uptick in the number of NICU babies and early births,” Genevieve says when asked about the inspiration behind their gift. “I wanted to see some donations happen for them for the holidays. We seriously cannot thank the Tacoma General NICU staff enough and wanted to give back.”

You can support infants needing advanced care in your community with a donation to Tacoma General Hospital’s NICU through the MultiCare Health Foundation.