Last month, a tiny miracle unfolded in Iowa when baby Evelyn Eilers went home from the hospital. Evelyn holds a unique title — the tiniest surviving preemie born in the United States, according to the Tiniest Babies Registry.
Evelyn, born 17 weeks early in September 2023, weighed just 8.46 ounces — less than a can of soda. Her incredible journey, shared by University of Iowa Health Care, underscores the reality that every life is precious and worth fighting for.
Evelyn’s parents, Emily and Ted Eilers, were not planning to start a family, but life had other plans. Emily, a nurse at the University of Iowa, was just a week away from starting graduate classes when she discovered she was pregnant.
Things took a challenging turn when a 16-week ultrasound revealed that Evelyn’s growth was alarmingly slow; she was only in the first percentile for growth. Doctors were concerned she wouldn’t make it to 24 weeks.
At 23 weeks, Emily noticed a decrease in Evelyn’s movements, sparking immediate worry. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Just two days before her next doctor’s appointment, Emily called the hospital about the decreased movements, noting the growth restriction diagnosis.
A hospital visit to ensure everything was okay quickly escalated, and Evelyn was born by emergency C-section. She was immediately placed in the neonatal intensive care unit, beginning her fight for survival.
Despite her tiny size, Evelyn’s initial challenge was met successfully: she could accommodate a breathing tube, crucial for her survival. Dr. Timothy “TJ” Boly, a leading neonatologist, marveled at her tenacity. “She was one of the smallest infants I’ve ever treated, but her resilience was evident from the start,” he recalled.
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Evelyn’s journey was fraught with complications. In her first week, one of her lungs began to collapse, and she suffered from dehydration. At one month old, she developed necrotizing enterocolitis, a dangerous intestinal infection, and capillary leak syndrome, which causes blood vessels to leak fluid into surrounding tissues.
The University of Iowa’s medical team, led by Dr. Boly, implemented an innovative treatment protocol for capillary leak syndrome, combining high-dose steroids, asthma medication to repair capillaries, and IV immunoglobulin to bolster the immune system. This protocol, developed by the institution’s physician-scientists, significantly improved her chances of survival. Soon after, Evelyn began to thrive.
“It was amazing to see her just become a baby who liked to interact in real life and loved having people around — she was a smiley, happy girl almost immediately,” Dr. Boly said. “She was able to tolerate getting more and more milk into her belly and to grow. And then she just flourished and developed.”
After more than seven months in intensive care, Evelyn finally went home, weighing a healthy 7 pounds 8 ounces. Though she still requires oxygen and a feeding tube, she is otherwise a typical newborn — happy, healthy, and thriving.
Adjusting to life at home presented new challenges for Emily and Ted, who had become accustomed to the constant support of hospital staff, but they are overjoyed by the miracle of their daughter. “We had to learn to manage everything ourselves, but we found our rhythm,” Emily said.
Reflecting on their journey, Ted expressed immense gratitude. “We never expected to face such a difficult path, but we were incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by such skilled and compassionate caregivers,” he said.
For the Eilerses, Evelyn’s status as the tiniest surviving baby in the U.S. is a footnote in a much larger story of love, community support, medical excellence, and resilience. “To us, she’s simply Evelyn, our little fighter,” Emily said.
Evelyn’s story is a poignant reminder of the miracles that can unfold even in the tiniest of packages. There are preemies all over the world right now demonstrating the same indomitable spirit of Evelyn.
Evelyn’s life, along with the lives of all these precious babies, is a reminder that every day is a gift.
