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Havana’s story: A journey of strength in the NICU

How a tiny hole in Havana’s heart couldn’t stop her from thriving.

Nutrition, Health and Wellness|Oct. 03, 2025

Julia Caouette’s pregnancy took and unexpected turn at just 20 weeks. During a routine check-up, she learned that her baby might be arriving early. Doctors couldn’t predict how long she would be able to carry her baby. For the next ten weeks, Julia lived with uncertainty, clinging to hope. Then, at 30 weeks, she began having contractions. At the hospital, she learned her daughter, Havana, was breech and an emergency c-section would be necessary. Havana was born that very day, April 22, 2024.

At first, Julia couldn’t believe her newborn would need intensive care. But alongside that fear was an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Havana was alive, and she was already showing signs of being a fighter. Her journey was just beginning, but her strength was clear from the start.

Nearly four hours after delivery, Julia met her daughter for the first time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Wheeled in by nurses, she scanned the room full of incubators, uncertain which baby was hers. When they brought her to Havana’s bedside, it was a surreal moment. She had imagined the warmth of newborn snuggles in her hospital bed, but instead, she sat beside an isolette, unable to hold her child. Still, when Havana wrapped her tiny hand around Julia’s finger, it was a moment she would never forget.

Havana spent two months in the NICU. Julia described the experience as one of the most emotionally complex times in her life. “I knew the NICU was keeping her safe,” she said, “but it felt unnatural not being able to take my own baby home.” The hardest moments came when Havana seemed close to discharge, only to experience setbacks—brief drops in oxygen or heart rate that meant more time in the hospital. “I felt completely out of control,” Julia recalled. “I just wanted that ‘normal’ newborn experience.”

One of the most critical moments in Havana’s care came when doctors discovered a hole in her heart that had not closed on its own, known as a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Julia feared her daughter might need open-heart surgery, but the cardiology team introduced her to an alternative: «Ƶ’s Piccolo device. This tiny, pea-sized catheter-based implant offered a minimally invasive way to close the vascular channel. “It felt like a weight lifted off my chest,” Julia says. The procedure went smoothly, and the effects were almost immediate. Havana’s breathing improved as her heart no longer had to work overtime.

Nutrition was also central to Havana’s progress. She was born at just 3 pounds 10 ounces and received breastmilk supplemented with Similac fortifier during her NICU stay to help her gain weight. At home, Julia continued to breastfeed Havana until she couldn’t produce any more milk. “I felt disappointment that my body was no longer making the amount of milk Havana needed, but I researched so much about formula, and we tried a few that were marketed as the closest formulas to breast milk,” Julia says.

The only formula that helped Havana grow, while also not affecting her belly, was Similac 360 Total Care Sensitive. Julia was thrilled, “it was like a full circle moment. She started on Similac fortifier in the NICU and was able to continue to thrive with Similac formula at home.”

Throughout Havana’s stay, small milestones brought moments of hope: the day she breathed more easily, the first time she passed her car seat test, and finally, the day she was cleared to go home on July 7, 2024, after 76 days in the NICU.

The bond between Julia and the NICU staff also played a key role in Havana’s journey. The nurses became extended family by caring for Havana with deep compassion and celebrating her small victories. One nurse even made a special sign for Havana’s one-month birthday. “They were there every step of the way,” Julia says. “They helped her grow and thrive.”

During those two months, Julia stayed connected to her daughter in every way possible. She memorized the NICU’s phone number and called daily for updates. She found comfort in a hospital app that allowed nurses to send photos throughout the day and cherished small moments of reassurance that meant the world.

Today, Havana is 15 months old and weighs over 20 pounds. She is healthy, thriving, and full of life – a living testament to strength, perseverance, and the life-saving power of modern neonatal care.

To other parents just entering the NICU journey, Julia offers this message: “It will get better. The days may feel like years, but there will come a time when the NICU feels like a lifetime ago. And it’s the very place that gave my daughter the chance to flourish.”

She also hopes people understand that it’s normal to grieve the birth experience they didn’t get to have. “The NICU is not the story anyone dreams of,” she says. “But it gave me the strongest, feistiest little girl I know.

Important safety information

AMPLATZER PICCOLOTM䳢ٷ

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

The AMPLATZER PiccoloTMOccluder is a percutaneous, transcatheter occlusion device intended for the nonsurgical closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).

CONTRAINDICATIONS

  • Weight < 700 grams at time of the procedure
  • Age < 3 days at time of procedure
  • Coarctation of the aorta
  • Left pulmonary artery stenosis
  • Cardiac output that is dependent on right to left shunt through the PDA due to pulmonary hypertension
  • Intracardiac thrombus that may interfere with the implant procedure
  • Active infection requiring treatment at the time of implant
  • Patients with a PDA length smaller than 3 mm
  • Patients with a PDA diameter that is greater than 4 mm at the narrowest portion

WARNINGS

  • This device was sterilized with ethylene oxide and is for single use only. Do not reuse or re-sterilize this device. Attempts to resterilize this device can cause a malfunction, insufficient sterilization, or harm to the patient.
  • Do not use the device if the sterile package is open or damaged.
  • Use on or before the last day of the expiration month that is printed on the product packaging label.
  • Patients who are allergic to nickel can have an allergic reaction to this device.
  • Prepare for situations that require the removal of this device. Preparation includes access to a transcatheter snare kit and an on-site surgeon.
  • Accurate measurements of the ductus are crucial for correct occluder size selection.
  • Do not release the occluder from the delivery wire if either a retention disc protrudes into the pulmonary artery or aorta; or if the position of the occluder is not stable.
  • Remove embolized devices. Do not remove an embolized occluder through intracardiac structures unless the occluder is fully recaptured inside a catheter.

PRECAUTIONS

  • This device should be used only by physicians who are trained in standard transcatheter techniques. Determine which patients are candidates for procedures that use this device.
  • The physician should exercise clinical judgment in situations that involve the use of anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs before, during, and/or after the use of this device.
  • Patients should have an activated clotting time (ACT) of greater than 200 sec prior to device placement, unless the patient has a significant risk for bleeding and is unable to be anti-coagulated.
  • The device may be delivered via an anterograde (venous) or a retrograde (arterial) approach. However, in small infants (≤2 kg), the device should be delivered using the anterograde (venous) approach since small infants are at an increased risk for arterial injury.
  • The AMPLATZER PiccoloTMOccluder contains nickel-titanium alloy, which is generally considered safe. However, in vitro testing has demonstrated that nickel is released from this device for a minimum of 60 days following implant. Patients who are allergic to nickel may have an allergic reaction to this device, especially those with a history of metal allergies. Certain allergic reactions can be serious; patients should seek immediate medical attention if there is suspicion of an allergic reaction. Symptoms may include difficulty in breathing or swelling of the face or throat. While data are currently limited, it is possible that some patients may develop an allergy to nickel if this device is implanted.
  • Use in specific populations
    • ʰ𲵲ԲԳ— Minimize radiation exposure to the fetus and the mother.
    • Nursing mothers— There has been no quantitative assessment for the presence of leachables in breast milk.
  • Store in a dry place.
  • Do not use contrast power injection with delivery catheter.

MR CONDITIONAL

St. Jude Medical’s AMPLATZERTMDuct Occluder II device is manufactured of chemically etched nitinol wire, 80% platinum 20% iridium marker band and a 316L end screw.

Non-clinical testing has demonstrated that the AMPLATZERTMDuct Occluder II device is MR-Conditional. Patients can be scanned safely immediately after implantation under the following conditions:

  • Static magnetic field of 1.5 Tesla (1.5T) or 3.0 Tesla (3.0T).
  • Maximum spatial gradient field less than or equal to 30 T/m.
  • Maximum whole-body-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) of 2.0 W/kg (normal operating mode) for 15 minutes of scanning.

In non-clinical testing with body coil excitation, the AMPLATZERTMDuct Occluder II device produced a differential temperature rise of less than or equal to 3.65°C when exposed to a maximum average whole body specific absorption rate (SAR) of 2.80 W/kg for 15 minutes of scanning in a 1.5 Tesla MR system (SiemensTMMAGNETOM EspreeTM, SYNGOTMMR B17 software, Erlangen, Germany). Scaling of the SAR and observed heating indicates that average whole body SAR of 2.0 W/kg would be expected to yield a localized temperature rise of less than or equal to approximately 1.0°C in Normal Operating Mode.

MR Image quality may be compromised if the area of interest is the same or relatively close to the position of the device. Therefore, it may be necessary to optimize the MR imaging parameters for the presence of this implant.

POTENTIAL ADVERSE EVENTS

Potential adverse events that may occur during or after a procedure placing this device include, but are not limited to:

  • Air embolus
  • Allergic dye reaction
  • Allergic drug reaction
  • Anesthesia reactions
  • Apnea
  • Arrhythmia
  • Bacterial endocarditis
  • Bleeding
  • Cardiac perforation
  • Cardiac tamponade
  • Chest pain
  • Device embolization
  • Device erosion
  • Death
  • Fever
  • Headache/migraine
  • Hemolysis
  • Hematoma
  • Hypertension
  • Hypotension
  • Infection
  • Myocardial infarction
  • Palpitations
  • Partial obstruction of aorta
  • Partial obstruction of pulmonary artery
  • Pericardial effusion
  • Pericarditis
  • Peripheral embolism
  • Pleural effusion
  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Re-intervention for device removal
  • Respiratory distress
  • Stroke
  • Thrombus
  • Transient ischemic attack
  • Valvular regurgitation
  • Vascular access site injury
  • Vascular occlusion
  • Vessel perforation