MADISON, Wis. – The miracle of childbirth often goes hand in hand with the fear of how things might turn out. Parents to babies born prematurely know that well.
When Krystal Yapp was born 13.5 weeks early in October 1986, doctors told her parents, Debbie Armstrong and Marvin Yapp, that she had a 5% chance of living.
“It was scary not knowing,” Debbie said. “It was like, OK, we’re going to do everything we can.”
“It was rough,” Marvin said. “You just didn’t know, but kept hoping and praying things would work out.”
The first part of Krystal’s life was spent inside St. Mary’s neonatal intensive care unit.
“We can do so much more now than we did back then,” said Dr. Samip Kothari, a neonatologist at SSM Health. “Back then, we had a lot of uncertainty of what type of lives these children would have.”
He said medical advances have come a long way, including being able to use surfactant starting in the early 1990s to improve lung function in babies.
In the decades since Krystal was born, professionals have emphasized the importance of skin-to-skin contact.
“Thirty years ago, you would have seen parents not being able to hold these babies, not being in the rooms, being isolated,” Samip said. “Now we push for, ‘Hey, get in there as much as you can, care for your child as much as you can,’ even at the earliest days.”
By Thanksgiving in 1986, several weeks after Krystal’s birth, her parents could hold her for the first time. Four months later they could take her home.
“It’s a miracle, isn’t that right?” Marvin said.
“Yeah,” Debbie said. “She really is a miracle.”
Over the years, Krystal was in and out of the hospital, fighting for milestones many take for granted.
“Krystal’s always been a fighter, always, from day one,” Debbie said. “Each day she proves them wrong.”
Doctors weren’t sure if she would be able to walk or talk.
“Now my mom’s like, ‘You can never be quiet,’” Krystal said, now 34 years old. “I’m doing pretty good now.”
With lasting complications, it certainly hasn’t been easy. Krystal took growth hormones, had a feeding tube into her teens and was on oxygen until her twenties.
The doctors gave Krystal another warning, telling her pregnancy could kill her. Now she has a daughter and a son, who spent several days in the same NICU as Krystal.
“It doesn’t happen often that the premies I take care of have their kids in the unit,” said Jayne Werner, registered nurse at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital. “It’s like a full circle.”
Werner took care of Krystal as a baby. Now more than three decades later, they had the opportunity to reconnect over Zoom.
“Working with sick babies, is it hard?” Krystal asked.
“When we end up with results like you, it’s all worth it,” Jayne said. “You do realize you are a miracle.”
For Krystal and her family, every little thing is a miracle.
“I don’t take anything for granted,” Krystal said. “Because you never know.”
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'She really is a miracle': Madison woman born 13 weeks early in 1986 beats the odds - Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3
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