NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) – One-year-old Thomas Thibodeaux has always been a happy baby.
He just learned how to walk a few weeks ago. It’s a sight his parents have been praying to see.
“I didn’t even think I could get pregnant due to the issues that I had before, so he was definitely our miracle baby,” said Thomas’ mom, Lauren Layton.
Thomas was born premature at 30 weeks, weighing just 3 pounds and 5 ounces.
Doctors told Layton and his father, Travis Thibodeaux, Thomas’ health looked uncertain.
“His exact words were he ‘is scared for us,’” he said. “That really freaked us out.”
Thomas stayed in the NICU for 67 days, while doctors monitored a heart condition and jaundice.
“We were so terrified especially is he going to live or is he going to have health complications. We didn’t know to expect,” he said.
Louisiana has the second-highest rate of premature births in the country, according to the 2017 march of dimes report.
Acadiana doesn’t’t stack up well either.
In 2016, Lafayette Parish has a ‘D’ rating with a 10 percent premature birth rate. Now it’s 11.6 percent, bringing the parish down to an ‘F’ rating.
Thomas went home on a heart monitor and sleep apnea machine, his parents said.
But 10 hours later, Lauren Travis were rushing him back to Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
“He quit breathing on us completely,” his mother said. “He had no life to him at all. His monitors were going crazy. I had to give him CPR to bring him back. Here’s your little baby and you can’t even hold him and not knowing what’s going to happen. It was hard.”
Now, Thomas is a rambunctious 1-year-old, keeping his parents on their toes.
He still has a hole in his heart and suffers from asthma.
But they say they’re thankful for the nurses and doctors who have always been there for their baby.
“I felt like with the NICU, it was one less thing to worry about. They helped out tremendously.”
Thomas and his family are one of the ambassador families for the Annual March of Dimes’ March for Babies Walk.
It’s happening this Saturday.
