Brooke Pankonin | Johnson Publications
Chelsy and Mic Heinemann of Wallace hold 11-week-old Thomas Harold, two days after he was due to be born.
Contributed
Mic Heinemann visits his son Thomas in the NICU after being delivered at 29 weeks gestation by emergency cesarean due to pre-eclampsia. He weighed only 2 pounds 10 ounces at birth.
Brooke Pankonin | Johnson Publications
Pictured is a tiny diaper, shirt, hat, ID bracelet and blood pressure cuff worn by Thomas in the NICU. A pen is displayed for size comparison.
Baby born at 29 weeks now thriving
When Michael (Mic) and Chelsy Heinemann married, they knew they wanted children. It didn’t take the Wallace couple long to fall in love, becoming husband and wife on March 8, 2016.
Mic, who grew up in Madrid, and his Sioux Falls, South Dakota bride, discovered they were expecting several months later in late November. Besides somewhat severe morning sickness, the pregnancy had been uneventful.
The day before Memorial Day 2017, Chelsy began seeing spots. Mic’s brother’s wife, who is a nurse, recognized the symptom as high blood pressure. They began monitoring Chelsy’s blood pressure, which continued to increase to dangerous levels.
Chelsy wasn’t convinced there was an emergency. They had family there for the holiday weekend and she didn’t want to be an inconvenience to anyone. She had just had a prenatal appointment that week and everything had been fine.
Mic’s sister-in-law eventually convinced her to go to the emergency room, and what a blessing that was. Upon arriving to the ER in Ogallala where Chelsy had been receiving prenatal care, she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia.
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