In May of 2021, Jeff and Alexandria Dale had a very traumatic and unsuspected turn of events surrounding the birth of their 4th child, Brecken.

While vacationing in Virginia Beach, Alexandria started suffering from severe abdominal pain. She was then taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out. The doctor made the decision to have Alexandria and baby flown to Sentara Norfolk General.  The medical staff there was able to detect abdominal bleeding from a ruptured uterus which led to an emergency C section and partial hysterectomy along with a blood transfusion for Alexandria. Baby Brecken was delivered on Friday, May 28^th, 3 months before his due date. Being this early, his weight was only 2lbs 8oz and he was immediately placed on a ventilator.

Norfolk, VA is over 9 hours away from the Dale’s home in Georgia, so a reservation was made for the couple to stay at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Norfolk for the duration of Brecken’s hospitalization.

Baby Brecken had quite a few obstacles to overcome. In the beginning, he underwent phototherapy to help his elevated bilirubin levels. He had some bleeding in his brain, which is not uncommon for premature babies but still a very scary situation regardless. At one point it was discovered that Brecken had a hole in the wall of his heart, located between the two lower chambers which luckily is still repairing itself on its own and not requiring surgery. He even experienced multiple episodes where he would stop breathing or his heart rate would drop significantly, another common occurrence for babies born prematurely.

While staying at RMHC Norfolk, the Dale’s were able to meet other families who were going through similar situations. Alexandria formed a strong bond with one of the other moms at the House. Their babies were in the NICU together and they would often travel to and from CHKD together. This friendship added a great deal of comfort to Alexandria whenever Jeff would periodically return to Georgia for work and to take care of their other children.

It was a long and stressful haul but after 78 days in the NICU, Brecken was finally able to go home!

“I’m trying to find the words to adequately describe how I feel. I’m beyond grateful. We could have so easily had a different outcome to our story. Brecken and I, together, very simply could have had our life journeys end at day one, only a few moments after my uterine rupture. But instead, we are leaving with full hearts and arms! The fact that we were able to be flown to a place with a level IV NICU. The Ronald McDonald House being walkable to the hospital. And so many hundreds of other large and small events during the last 3 months that were undeniably Him! Meeting so many other strong, dedicated, supportive parents and forming close bonds with them. Very surprisingly to me, I’m actually a bit sad. I have been certain for the last months here that the moment we were discharged, we’d run away from Norfolk as fast as we possibly could. But instead, I found a beauty in this experience in the form of new friends and deep, strong, connections founded in sharing the greatest fears, sorrows, hopes, and celebrations. They’ve been such a bright spot in a dark time. I’m surprised at how much I’ll miss the camaraderie, the laughter, the commiserating, and the deep care from other NICU parents and a few special nurses we got extremely close with! We’ve been so blessed to witness the goodness in humanity these past few months.”

“We want to share with you our 37week, 5lb15oz, bundle of joy. He is truly an absolute miracle born of the faith and love and prayers of so many.”