Christmas will be extra special this year for a Texas family who will be bringing their daughter home from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after more than 300 days.
Luis Torres and Jacklynn Peralta will be bringing home their daughter, Kamillia Peralta, who has been in the NICU since she was born at 35 weeks with an omphalocele, according to KSAT News. Kamillia Peralta was in the NICU at St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas for 305 days.
Kamillia Peralta “was born with an Omphalocele, a congenital defect that caused some of her internal organs to develop outside her abdomen,” according to the outlet.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Omphalocele is a condition in which a baby’s abdominal organs develop outside their belly. Babies with an omphalocele may also have other health conditions. Omphalocele surgery repairs the opening and puts the organs backs in the abdomen.”
“Every single time that I felt like it was getting rough … my dad told me, ‘Keep your faith with God and no matter how rough it gets, she’s going to be OK,'” Jacklynn Peralta told the outlet.
She added that her daughter is “always kicking, kicking, and kicking, and kicking,” adding that little Kamillia was nicknamed “happy feet” while in the NICU.
“She grabs everything,” Jacklynn added. “She likes to chew everything, including her fingers. She has about eight teeth now.”
In a post on X, the Texas Hospital Association recognized the “NICU team at St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital in San Antonio for their extraordinary care” of Kamillia.
“Newborn Kamillia spent nearly her first year in the NICU before going home just in time for her first Christmas,” the Texas Hospital Association said. “Born with a rare congenital condition, Kamillia defied the odds through months of intensive, compassionate care.”