A baby from Greensboro, North Carolina reportedly celebrated his first Christmas at home, after miraculously surviving from months of hospitalization out of being prematurely born at 24 weeks, thanks to his parents' faith and daily prayers.
Faithwire said the miracle baby, Karter Stultz, stayed for four months at Winston-Salem's Brenner Children's Hospital NICU. Karter survived many struggles and difficulties at the hospital such that his parents, Harold and Brandi, are rejoicing his "incredible overcomer story."
Fox 8 explained that the one-year-old Karter has finally left the hospital and spent Christmas in the comfort of his own home. Karter's parents revealed to Fox 8 that it was something they have so longed to experience, considering the long stay in the hospital that was needed to keep Karter alive.
"He was just that critical. I never thought we'd leave the hospital with him," Brandi said.
"It's just a blessing to be home. We spent a lot of holidays in the hospital," she added.
Now that he is a toddler, Karter's homecoming also gave him the opportunity to enjoy the Christmas lights, explore the presents under their Christmas tree, and unwrap these. Karter is said to be the couple's only child since they had difficulty having children after Brandi had a miscarriage in 2018. Brandi had to resort to in vitro fertilization just to have Karter in 2020. He was born in December of that year at 24 weeks, weighing 1 pound and 6.9 ounces.
"We rode the pregnancy out during the pandemic and then I ended up with preeclampsia," Brandi shared.
"It was just a whirlwind from there. I got admitted on the (December) 2nd and he was born on the (December) 4th and then it was just the whole time like struggling with him because he wasn't doing good," she continued.
Karter's extraordinary size and weight made the doctors regard him as "a strange case" and admitted that "they didn't know if they had the equipment to fit him to begin with." He was placed in an incubator and was hooked to breathing machines. During this time, the couple launched a GoFundMe campaign to help them with the bills.
Karter's parents were prohibited from holding him until a month after his birth since his situation would vary day by day. This lasted for four months, and it took another two months before the doctors said Karter was strong enough to go home.
"He was just so critical that it was a roller coaster with him. One day he'd be good, the next day he'd be bad, one day he'd be good, the next day he'd be bad," Brandi explained.
Throughout this time, Karter's parents said that they would pray over him together with members of their community every day. This is why they believe that this is the reason he was finally able to come home this Christmas.
"We prayed over him every day. There were so many churches, so many family members, friends, there were a lot of prayers over him," Brandi revealed.
"The faith was there every day no matter how bad he was doing. We knew deep down this was another obstacle we had to overcome," she emphasized.
On the other hand, Harold stressed the importance of having their community with them throughout their stay in the hospital and in their fight for Karter's life. Harold said it was a source of encouragement for him.
"There was so much uplifting. It helped give us the comfort knowing that we're not fighting it alone, that he has other people that are here backing him up too," he said.
Now that his condition has stabilized and he is fully well, Karter would just need to visit his doctors for regular checkups.
(Accompanying photo: https://images.gofundme.com/4Brm1kNUZPJ4LvaSZYP48zfA5_w=/720x405/https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/53047220_161056625496353_r.jpeg
