Nine-year-old E'Layah Faith Pegues was born a fighter. On September 23, 2015, E'Layah’s parents, Megan Smith and Eric Pegues, welcomed their baby girl into the world – nearly 14 weeks before her due date. E'Layah was born at 26 weeks and is one of the world’s smallest surviving babies – weighing 10 ounces and measuring just 10 inches long. (About the size of a can of soda.)
E'Layah spent almost 20 weeks at Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital, named a Best Children's Hospital for neonatology by U.S. News & World Report.
Against all odds
It had been a difficult pregnancy for Megan and Eric as she suffered two strokes and battled morning sickness and high blood pressure. In August 2015, Megan’s OB-GYN determined that E'Layah was not growing. He sent Megan to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center for further testing and she was placed on bed rest for nearly a month. When doctors noticed E'Layah was not moving, they decided to deliver her via emergency C-section.
Shortly after her birth, the medical team prepared Megan and Eric for the worst news any parent could hear: their baby girl may not survive. Despite the dire warnings, their belief in their little fighter never wavered.
“We just weren’t taking it,” Megan says. “We said, we have to have faith, and that’s when we made her middle name ‘Faith,’ because we weren’t going to give up on her.”
Megan recalls the first two weeks being incredibly scary and challenging. E'Layah had several blood transfusions and struggled to gain weight. But slow progress was made. The family and medical team celebrated when E'Layah reached 1 pound in weight, a significant milestone.
Andrew Herman, MD, neonatologist and chief medical officer at Levine Children’s, credits E'Layah’s survival and growth to a combination of talent, perseverance and creativity.
“Our goal since her birth was to grow her as quickly and as safely as we could,” Herman says.
However, the experienced team at Levine Children’s Hospital had to come up with new ways to feed E'Layah because traditional methods would not work on such a small baby. The team developed a special combination of formula and breast milk to keep E'Layah healthy and growing.
“We had to fine tune our approach with E'Layah,” Herman says. “We began feeding her a combination of protein, fat, sugar, electrolytes and vitamins that would help prevent infections, mature her intestines and help her gain weight.”
Miracles to milestones
When she was discharged in February 2016, E'Layah had already made great strides, weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces and sizing out of her preemie clothes.
“We were all very excited to bring her home,” Megan says. “It had been a long journey, and we were looking forward to the next chapter.”
Her road was not easy, but E'Layah made steady progress. On December 29, 2015, she celebrated her original due date, weighing about five times as much as her original birth weight.
Herman and the entire team caring for E'Layah – who they affectionately call “tater tot” – describe her as one of their proudest moments and credit the parents for being so involved in her care.
“It is all about families at Levine Children’s,” Herman says. “If you can bring the family together and give them hope that they will one day all be together, then we do whatever it takes to keep that hope alive."
When E'Layah celebrated her second birthday, she was almost three times taller and more than 20 times heavier. She was talking, crawling, cruising and exploring her world like never before.
“Looking back on the pictures from 1 year old to 2 years old, all I could say was wow!” Megan says.
E'Layah worked hard to reach milestones, overcoming many challenges. She regularly saw an eye doctor, had physical therapy to build strength, occupational therapy for dexterity, and speech therapy to help her eat solid foods. Her pediatrician, Dr. McDowell, has supported E’Layah throughout her journey.
“The care at Levine Children’s is exceptional,” Megan says. “They used their gifts to love and care for E'Layah as if she were their own, which gave me peace of mind. Their updates on her progress and feisty spirit meant everything to me.”
Faith is fulfilled
Through every challenge E’Layah has faced in her nine years of life, Megan’s faith has never wavered.
“It’s been tough, but I held on, believing my child would grow and be healthy,” Megan says. “I knew from day one that E’Layah would excel at life. She fought to live.”
And she was right. Today, E'Layah is a thriving third grader who loves reading, painting, go-karting with her dad and beach trips with her mom. Megan adds that E'Layah is a natural leader.
“She loves being in charge! In school, she gets upset when she’s not the line leader,” Megan laughs.
E'Layah’s dreams are just as big as her personality. Megan says E’Layah has interest in being a basketball player, ballerina, dentist, doctor, witch and firefighter.
“We’ve got plenty of options,” Megan says. “We’re working through them one by one!”
Reflecting on her journey, Megan expresses deep gratitude to the Levine Children's team.
“Thank you for not giving up on E'Layah. Because you shared our faith and hope, she’s here today,” Megan says. “I wouldn’t be writing this without your love and commitment.”
And as for how the experience has shaped her as a mother, Megan shares:
“Motherhood is like a box of chocolates. You hope for a healthy baby, but when things don’t go as planned, you learn patience. I’ve learned that with faith, children with developmental delays can grow and thrive.”
See more lives that have been changed by Levine Children's.
