One local family had been loyal Children's Miracle Network donors for years.
They never expected needing their services, but that all changed this year. Gathered in the living room, the Moore family makes silly faces, kissing noises, and squeak their seven-month-old daughters favorite toy. They treasure these simple moments, because they almost were not possible.
For their daughter, it's already been a long road in her short life.
"It all started on Christmas Day," remembers Tenisha Moore. "There was no way of stopping the labor, and I was 26 weeks."
She was pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, who were not due until April
"She was one pound (and) nine ounces," Tenisha says about her baby girl. "Her brother was one pound (and) eleven ounces."
They were small enough to fit in the palm of their hand. The twins were brought to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Children's Hospital, Navicent Health. Tenisha's husband, Quentin, remembers how their son struggled.
"They took their thumb and pressed it in his chest," he says. "That's how they gave him CPR."
The Moore's picked the name Legend, and at only five-days-old, his condition got worse.
"He had two 'Category 4' bleeds," Quentin says, which are the most severe. "He was bleeding out of the brain."
That bleeding caused a stroke, which his tiny body just could not handle.
"My son didn't make it home," says Quentin, unable to hold back the tears. "It's still a blessing we've got our daughter."
They named her Hope.
"That was all we had," Tenisha says. "That was all we had during those times."
She remembers the first time she held Hope.
"I was the happiest girl in the world," she smiles. "There was nothing that could compare from just reaching your hand into the glass and touching her to finally holding her in my arms."
A few weeks later, however, they found out Hope had brain bleeding too-- the same thing that happened to her brother.
"It's your worst fear-- not being able to help your child," says Quentin.
Tenisha, who is a nurse, says that still could never prepare her for her own child. They expected the worst, but, after several days of care, something unbelievable happened. The bleeding stopped on its own.
"Nothing short of a miracle," Tenisha notes.
Hope stayed in the NICU for three months. The bleeding was gone, but she had to go to another Children's Miracle Network Hospital, Scottish-Rite in Atlanta, to have a shunt put in her head to drain the swelling. It led to an astounding before and after.
"It was a completely normal brain scan," she said. "Nothing that we ever thought would be possible."
Quentin works for Love's Travel Stops, a Childrens Miracle Network Partner for the last 15 years.
"I was kind of blown away," he says. "Wow, I'm actually here needing and using the Children's hospital I helped raise money for."
The Moores have seen, firsthand, the joy Childrens Miracle Network hospitals can bring.
"They're trying to give these kids the best chance to fight for their lives as possible," he says.
"Miracle do happen, and having the Miracle Network was such a blessing to us," says Tenisha.
Now their daughter is healthy, and she is a constant reminder to hold on to hope.
