LEWISTON – Linda Federico spent several hours a day sitting on a wooden stool, watching her newborn’s chest rise and fall.
Wearing a mask, gloves and hospital gown, Federico could only touch her daughter, Deni, through two small holes on the side of the plastic case.
A monitor tracked the baby’s every breath. Federico knew exactly what to do when it started to beep.
The Lewiston mother slipped her hand through the hole, then lightly touched Deni’s arm with one finger.
It was usually enough to remind the newborn to breathe.
Deni was 15 ounces when she was born in September 1999. She arrived 14 weeks early, her skin still transparent, her ears only flaps of skin.
Five years later, the kindergartner is so familiar with the story of her birth that she reminds her mother whenever she forgets a detail.
The duo, along with Federico’s older son, have traveled across Maine, telling their story as ambassadors for the March of Dimes.
They’ve been busy lately, encouraging people to sign up for the organization’s annual WalkAmerica.
Raising money to help the March Dimes prevent birth defects and infant mortality, walks are taking place in various places across the tri-county area, including Auburn, Bethel, Mexico, Jay, Oxford Hills and Farmington.
Federico believes her family’s story is the ideal example of why the March of Dimes needs support.
It’s ideal, she said, because it’s not perfect.
Deni beat the odds. She opened her eyes after five days in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her ears continued to develop, and she eventually switched from getting electrolytes intravenously to digesting small drops of formula.
These days, she has asthma but it seems to be going away. She may need eyeglasses one day. But that’s it.
Her twin brother, Dustin, wasn’t as fortunate.
“He’s in heaven,” Deni said, pointing to the sky.
Dustin died in the womb for reasons doctors were never able to determine. Federico went for an ultrasound after she noticed that the left side of her belly had gone quiet. The X-ray confirmed that one of the babies had died.
Federico was told she would be able to carry the other baby the full term. But three weeks later, her blood pressure spiked and she underwent an emergency Caesarean section.
The doctors delivered two babies – one stillborn, the other less than a pound.
“To this day, we don’t know what went wrong,” the mother said.
Deni spent her first 3 months at Maine Medical Center. It was five weeks before Federico could hold her. Even then, the infant fit in the palm of her mother’s hand.
Federico and her son, Kelin, visited every day. Kelin read his sister stories about the Winnie the Pooh and a book titled “Baby Angels.”
It was until after the girl was discharged that doctors referred to her as a miracle. Federico knew all along.
“I always knew in my heart that she would live,” the mother said, holding her daughter on her lap. “I wasn’t going to lose two babies.”
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