When Lennon was born at just 24 weeks and 3 days, her parents Jaylee and Hunter Chladek knew how quickly hope could turn to heartbreak.
Two years earlier, they had lost their son, Dutton, at 23 weeks.
So, when the NICU team told them just hours after Lennon was born that their 1-pound, 10½-ounce daughter had crashed and might not survive, they feared they were reliving the nightmare they had already endured.
The preemie would spend the next 107 days in the NICU in Missoula, nearly two and a half hours from the family’s home in Helena.
“We were told to expect Lennon to remain in the NICU until at least her due date,” Jaylee said. “The thought of leaving her in Missoula was unbearable. At the same time, paying for a hotel for potentially four months simply wasn’t realistic.”
Then the Chladeks learned there was a room for them at Ronald McDonald House Missoula.
“Suddenly, we could be just a short walk from our daughter,” Jaylee said.
That meant Jaylee and Hunter could spend their days at Lennon’s bedside and still have somewhere nearby to sleep, eat, shower, do laundry and take a break from the hospital.
It also meant being surrounded by people who cared.
Jaylee remembers a couple who came to the House to prepare dinner one evening. They asked about Lennon and then asked if they could pray for her.
“During a time when everything felt so uncertain and fragile, knowing two more people were thinking about our little girl and cheering her on meant more than they probably ever realized,” she said.
She also has fond memories of an unexpected Mother’s Day care package. The barbecues giving families a chance to connect and feel normal. The hot meals waiting after another exhausting day at the hospital.
Today, Lennon is home with her parents in Helena. She is adventurous, curious, feisty and full of personality.
And Dutton will always be part of their family. Although they never got to bring him home, he will forever be Lennon’s big brother.
For Jaylee, Ronald McDonald House was something solid and constant during a time when almost nothing else felt certain.
“Because of Ronald McDonald House, we didn’t have to choose between going home and being close to our daughter,” she said. “We got to be there for 107 days, right by her side. And we’ll never forget the people who made that possible.”