FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Maya Armstrong was born more than 10 weeks premature at UCHealth's Poudre Valley hospital in 2005. She was 1 pound and 15 ounces.
Armstrong said her mother experienced health complications that forced her to have an emergency C-section.
"So my mom had HELLP syndrome and pre-eclampsia which are things that coincide with pregnancy and pre-term," Armstrong explained. "So she had high blood pressure and just not doing well in the progress of me. I also wasn’t doing well. They prompted us to come in and rush us to the hospital. After she was put on bed rest and they had an emergency C-section so I was 27 weeks so I was developed enough to be in the NICU but I needed help breathing so that’s what prompted it."
Armstrong said she spent 77 days in the NICU.
"I was actually one of the first babies kept at Poudre Valley because they usually get treated at Children’s Hospital in Denver because they weren’t able to take care of such small babies at the time," Armstrong said.
Armstrong has been able to see the growth of the hospital firsthand. She came back to the hospital as a volunteer in 2022.
"I can feel that energy, like the support that we received and everyone is so welcoming and kind and that just has been a wonderful thing to feel coming back and walking these same halls where I once was here 19 years ago," Armstrong said.
Armstrong can be found at the hospital's receptionist desk, helping guide people and delivering flowers.
Armstrong's mother also works in the NICU as a volunteer. Armstrong said her mother encouraged her and her sister to give back to their communities when able. Armstrong said her sister was also a NICU baby at the hospital.
"She’s 15 now," Armstrong said of her sister Sofia. "So she was born at 31 weeks. She was a bit chunkier at 3 pounds but not by much. She spent 47 days in the NICU. When she was born, I was about 5 at the time so there's a bit of an age gap. Now she’s thriving and doing great and she’s not this little anymore."
Armstrong and her sister's pictures are displayed outside the NICU and can be seen as patients and staff get on and off the elevators. She said she knows she's living proof there's hope in dark times.
"I think it’s just irreplaceable like I have people who come up to me at school and they’re like, 'I was here, I had a cousin born and they got to see your picture on the board' and so I think it really reaches all parts of our community especially when people are going through such a difficult time in their life, being that light, and seeing there is life outside the NICU is a really beautiful thing for them."
