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As if on cue, Gracie looks up and grins.
Sitting up on her own, manipulating a small toy with her hands and squealing at times, this little girl is a far cry from the ailing infant who spent 79 days in the NICU in her "womb with a view" - the family's nickname for the incubator where she spent much of her time. Her lowest recorded weight was 1 pound 8 ounces and to even see pictures of her at that time is astounding.
Her head was about the size of a mandarin orange, her skin was transparent and her father's wedding band fit all the way up her arm.
"That was really traumatic to see her like that," Brown says.
Some of the concerns for Gracie included underdeveloped lungs, an inability to sustain her own body temperature, how to provide the right amount of oxygen to sustain life but not cause her to go blind, and an undeveloped sucking reflex that required her to be fed through a tube.
"They really know how to get their calories up," Wilkey says, adding that the NICU nurses told them Gracie was receiving the equivalent of a Thanksgiving meal every three hours.
"Her body grew, but you can't speed up brain development," Wilkey says.
When Gracie was finally released to go home, the work and worry wasn't over for her family. she required oxygen, a pulse oximeter and tube feedings, though she is now breast feeding well and is "cordless."
"She's right on target for where she should be," Wilkey says.
Even with good news like that, the 11-month ordeal has been difficult for all involved.
"It's been a cross to bear all year," Wilkey says. "You look back and think, how did she (Andrea) do it? It's not something you just waltz in and out of."
Although Brown is still reeling from the magnitude of the experience, she knows she is lucky to have Gracie in her life and she's doing what she can to give back by serving as the Southern Utah area ambassador for March of Dimes and spearheading the organization's annual fundraising event.
"It's a good way for our family to share our story," Brown says. "It love to talk about it because it makes it more real for me."
The March of Dimes March for Babies fundraising walk will take place 9:30 a.m. March 27 at Nisson Park in Washington City. anyone who wants to be involved can create their own team or donate money to an existing team by logging onto marchforbabies.org and entering a zip code for the local event.
"I realized that the March of Dimes does work for the entire state and we've kind of neglected the southern portion in the outreach and awareness of what we do," Bird says regarding the fact that there hasn't been a March for Babies in the area for a few years. "Hopefully when more people become aware, they'll want to be more involved."
Log onto marchofdimes.com for more information.
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