IN THIS TOGETHER: Meet the NICU nurse, the mom, and the baby girl who defied the odds

Baby Penelope’s 205-day stay at the NICU with Novant Health NICU nurse Courtney Hass

May 7, 2024

Taylor Bowler,

NICU nurse, Novant — Images courtesy of Nykki Hooks

Nykki Hooks was already a mother of four when she found out she was expecting her fifth baby. But early on, she knew this pregnancy was different. She had her first of several hemorrhages at 12 weeks due to a condition called placenta abruption, when the placenta—which supplies nutrients and oxygen to the baby—separates from the wall of the uterus.

Nykki stopped bleeding until her 20-week appointment, when, she says, she was at the right place at the right time. “As I was waiting on the exam table, I started hemorrhaging,” she says. “I yelled for a doctor—and I hope that all doctors act as quickly as this.”

Her OB GYN immediately put her in a wheelchair and raced her across the Fourth Street skybridge to Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, where she stayed for the next four weeks. “I was just trying to stay pregnant and alive long enough for her to get here safely,” Nykki says. “Anything before 23 weeks, there wasn’t a chance.”

On August 2, 2021, Nykki delivered her baby girl, Penelope, at 23 weeks and three days—three and a half months before her due date. “She weighed 1 pound, 9 ounces, and was 11 inches long,” Nykki says. “When she cried, it sounded like a baby cat meowing. But hearing that gave me a lot of hope.”

That’s when Penelope’s 205-day stay at the NICU began—and they began their journey with Novant Health NICU nurse Courtney Hass. “Within the first couple of days, it was apparent (Penelope) needed a lot of support,” Courtney says. “She was one of the sickest babies in the unit. She was on 100% oxygen. Being on 100% oxygen for so long and not showing improvement was really scary. We always tell parents, ‘The baby is in control; they’ll take the lead.’”

Nykki says there were days, weeks, and even months where there was a real possibility Penelope wouldn’t make it. She credits Courtney for being the only reason she could go home to see her four older kids. Nykki continued to pump and bring Penelope milk and do Kangaroo care, or skin-to-skin contact, whenever she could. By February, nearly three months after what should have been Penelope’s due date, she was cleared to go home.

Courtney taught Nykki everything she’d need to know about her baby’s tracheostomy (trach) tube, feeding pump, and the ventilator she’d need to be on 24/7. “By that point, she knew how my brain worked,” Nykki says. “She made all the sheets and laminated them, so we’d know what to do in case of an emergency.”

By her second birthday, Penelope no longer needed the ventilator and she’d caught up developmentally. Courtney (or “Coco,” as Penelope calls her) even got to be there to celebrate. “As she’s getting bigger, there’s less concern about how she’s doing,” Courtney says. “Now I get updates about her milestones—the fun things.”

Penelope still wears a trach because her lungs are weak, but her doctors are hopeful it can come out after she passes a final sleep study this summer. She continues to see Courtney regularly, too, but it’s no longer in a hospital setting. To the Hooks, Coco has become family. “Knowing someone was going above and beyond gave me the peace of mind to go home and be with my other kids,” Nykki says. “It could have been a lot different outcome if we didn’t have Courtney.”