F A M I L Y
P R O F I L E
Lowry Family
HOME: Republic, MO (Greene County) On February 21st,
I started having symptoms of high blood pressure
and went to Mercy Labor and Delivery to have it checked. What I thought would be a simple check-up with blood pressure medication prescribed, turned into being admitted and being told that we would be there until I had our baby boy. I was terrified. I was only 32 weeks pregnant. The hospital stay before our son was born was treacherous. We never knew what each day would bring and I began to overthink and stress about everything. While expressing my concern to one of my nurses, she told me to check out the Ronald McDonald House and explained how helpful they were for her own family. We applied that night and were soon told there was a room for us. This news was enough to make me weep as a deep need was being met for our family in such a scary, uncertain time. We were there for a week exactly when my blood pressure took a turn for the worse. Within an hour of my blood pressure reading, I had an eclamptic seizure and Nash Everest was born via emergency C-section at 33 weeks & 5 days weighing 4 pounds 10 ounces. He was tiny, but mighty. He didn’t have a whole lot of health concerns, but needed to learn how to eat on his own and needed to grow. With each step forward, it seemed like there were two steps back. It was an emotional rollercoaster. Our hearts ached for the time we felt like we were losing with our baby and we experienced an exhaustion we didn’t even know was possible. I expected the Ronald McDonald House to just give us a place to rest our heads through our NICU journey, but they gave us so much more – “a-home-away-fromhome.” The staff was so friendly and made us feel like humans who were seen, not just robots living on repeat. They provided a hot dinner for us every night, saving us precious time with our baby and money while we were both away from work. They dropped unexpected, thoughtful gifts to our room regularly. They had breast pumps available for use and I didn’t have to run up to the NICU to pump between our touch times. There were laundry facilities provided, so we didn’t have to make numerous trips back home and lose even more time. Our 32-day NICU stay was brighter because of RMH and their staff. We knew of the Ronald McDonald House before our time there, but we never realized how truly life-giving they are for the families that need them. They are a true light in a dark time for many families like ours. RMHC forever impacted our hearts, and we will be eternally grateful for all they do.
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