Evelyn weighed just 240 grams when she came into the world, 17 weeks early.
Her tiny body was so small that it barely filled an adult’s hand. The doctors at Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa knew they were facing an extreme case. Today, she is recognized as the smallest survivor ever born in the United States. She was diagnosed with a condition that is normally fatal, but a team of neonatologists designed their own protocol, created especially for her, and decided to try it.
Emily and Ted Eilers, her parents, never left the incubator’s side for seven months. Emily, a nurse at that same university, knew the risks better than anyone, and even so, she never stopped believing. When they were finally able to take her home to Solon, Evelyn weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces—the weight of a healthy newborn. The girl who once fit in one hand now lives the life many had denied her.
