Baby Shiloh, Patient

The Rasmussen family is among many families that have benefitted from the opening of the $6 million state-of-the-art NICU

Shiloh Susan Sintay has been surprising her parents, Lauren and Shane ever since the day they heard the wonderful news of her impending arrival.

"Shiloh is my miracle baby," said Lauren Rasmussen Sintay. "She surprised us from the moment we found out we were pregnant and continued to do so right through the very day she was born."

Lauren found out she was expecting a baby in October 2012. Both Shane and Lauren were thrilled even though Lauren was a high-risk patient.

In early September, Shane and Lauren left their home in Mammoth for the five-hour drive to Valencia for the wedding of one of her closest cousins.

Lauren awoke in the wee hours of the morning on September 8, 2012, the day of the wedding, with severe cramping and contractions. With her husband and mom by her side, Lauren was admitted to the maternity unit at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital where she was treated and given medications to stop pre-term labor.

Lauren's obstetrician in Mammoth advised her to stay in Valencia since Henry Mayo had antepartum services and a NICU in the event the baby came too early. Four days later her water broke and she was back at Henry Mayo admitted this time, for the duration of her pregnancy. Lauren settled in for the long-haul, receiving steroid shots to aid in the development of the baby's lungs, antibiotics to prevent infection, and blood draws every four hours...

"The women's unit was amazing and I could not have asked for a better group to take care of me," said Lauren.

After four days of treatment and bed rest, Lauren's contractions became unbearable and her white cell count was severely elevated. Her doctor induced labor and shortly after Lauren gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Shiloh Susan Sintay, who weighed in at 5 pounds 5 ounces.

While Shiloh was breathing on her own, her doctors admitted her to Henry Mayo's NICU to ensure she was healthy and had all of the advantages she might need to thrive. Shiloh spent 11 days in Henry Mayo's NICU, the first five with a feeding tube and the remainder under bilirubin lights to treat her jaundice.

"The new NICU is absolutely beautiful, completely state-of-the art and in fact, they have what we termed the Cadillac of incubators," said Lauren. "Even though the NICU was new, the doctors and nurses were so experienced, sensitive, and supportive, they couldn't have possibly been better."

Lauren credits the excellent physicians, nurses, staff and her ever-loving and supportive family for Shiloh's rapid progress while at Henry Mayo. Shiloh is growing rapidly and is healthy, happy and living at home with her parents in June Lake.