Gloria weighed about 900 grams when she was born.
She came into the world on February 29, 2020, in McAllen, Texas, ten weeks early, by emergency C-section. Her mother, Alana Patten, left the hospital three days after giving birth, but had to leave her behind: Gloria stayed nearly 12 more weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, fighting for every gram, for every breath.
The pandemic was just beginning and the rules were strict: parents could only enter one at a time, in short shifts, counting the minutes beside their daughter through the glass of an incubator. Eighty days later, Gloria weighed 2.7 kilos and was breathing on her own. The hospital organized a small graduation ceremony to send her off, with the nurses who cared for her as if she were their own. Alana says they are now family, and that she plans to stay in touch with each of them.
