After surprise early birth, mother grateful to Children’s Hospital of Georgia

Everything seemed to be going smoothly for Augusta resident Montrell Patterson’s pregnancy earlier this year. At her appointments, there was never a sign of any issues. Then one day, she experienced the shock of her life: she went into labor on June 13, three months before her son was due.

“For my husband and I, it was definitely scary,” she said. She was sent to Labor and Delivery at Children’s Hospital of Georgia as soon as she arrived.

“They contacted the NICU staff and said, ‘We need your help down here,’ and in my Beyonce words, ‘They came in formation.’ They were ready,” she said.

After her son, Jaycier, was born, he stayed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

“They explained it to us when we got here,” she said. “There would be days when things were good and days that weren’t so good. The staff here made everything go smoother. They explained everything going on with his condition, which was prematurity. It was a roller coaster.”

Patterson’s mind was put at ease because the nurses and doctors in the NICU told her exactly what was going on every step of the way for the 100-plus days Jaycier stayed there.

She was so grateful to the staff that she requested a graduation ceremony for her son on the day he was discharged back in September.

Patterson decided she wanted Jaycier to be an ambassador for Children’s at this year’s Cares for Kids Radiothon.

“I felt like it was important to be an ambassador to let people know this is real,” she said. “We go through things that we don’t really expect, and we need help from families out there in the world to support the Children’s Hospital of Georgia. We need the equipment to help all these babies live.”