When Sawyer Phoenix was born prematurely and admitted to the NICU, his mom, Miranda, stayed at Ronald McDonald House Missoula to be close to him. But her husband, Craig, had to return home to Libby, more than three hours away, to get back to work.
For Miranda, those first days were overwhelming.
“I would sit alone in my room and cry,” she said. “I felt out of place, and the uncertainty of how long Sawyer and I would be away from home felt almost suffocating.”
Sometimes, when she got hungry, Miranda would quietly make her way to the kitchen. If she saw other people there, she would turn around and head back to her room.
But the staff noticed her.
“Every time they saw me sneak out of my room or come back from the hospital, they checked on me,” Miranda said. “They helped me find resources and answers to questions. They asked about Sawyer, Craig and our life back home. And they weren’t just being polite. They genuinely cared about my little world.”
Slowly, Miranda began to realize she wasn’t alone.
“There was an entire House filled with families experiencing their own versions of what I was going through,” Miranda said. “And there was a staff that encouraged me every single day to keep my chin up.”
Miranda had arrived in Missoula just weeks earlier, after her water broke on May 14, more than two months before Sawyer’s due date. Sawyer was born 10 days later weighing 3 pounds, 7 ounces.
For nearly a month and a half, Ronald McDonald House gave Miranda a home near Sawyer without the added cost of lodging and meals.
“I had a safe place to sleep, meals waiting for me, people checking on me and somewhere I could take a breath before returning to Sawyer’s bedside,” Miranda said.
But for Miranda, the support went beyond having a place to stay.
“People who had never met us went above and beyond to care for our family during one of the hardest times of our lives,” she said. “Ronald McDonald House was a shining light when we desperately needed one.”
Today, the “tiny but mighty” baby she visited daily in the NICU is thriving. Sawyer is happy, healthy and already weighs more than 21 pounds.
Miranda still remembers how alone she felt during those first days in Missoula and the people who made sure she didn’t stay that way.
“I will never be able to fully thank the people who cared for us,” she said. “But I hope sharing our story helps someone else understand just how extraordinary this place really is.”
