Baby Named 'Miracle' Goes Home After 4 Months in NICU as Mom Calls Her 'My Bundle of Joy'

Mar. 15, 2025

Tiffany Murray, 42, of Staten Island, was originally expecting her newborn to arrive on July 26, the same day as her aunt’s birthday.

Instead, Miracle was born prematurely on April 2 at just 23 weeks.

Murray says the unexpected birth came after she began experiencing contractions. “I went to my doctor’s appointment and I found out I was one-and-a-half centimeters [dilated],” she tells PEOPLE on Friday, Sept. 6. “They admitted me right there.”

Richmond University Medical Center

“One of my sons, my second oldest, got to see her when she was in the NICU,” Murray adds. “He was just crying because she was so small at the time. She was only 2 days old when he went to go see her.

Miracle remained in intensive care for months, an experience that was stressful for her mom,

“They let me spend one night with her,” Murray says. “That touched me a lot.”

At times, it was touch and go for Miracle during her stay in the NICU: She was hooked up to aCPAP, a machine that treats sleep apnea disorders, for three and a half months.

The newborn also had a heart murmur that required medications and underwent five blood transfusions, Murray says.

The mother credits her faith for getting through that difficult period.

“They were like, ‘Come on, mommy, you got to go home. You got to take Miracle and go home.’ So I’m like, ‘Why are you all rushing us out? She’s been here for four months now you want to kick out?’ " Murray remembers. “They were like, ‘No, no. We got something to show you.’ “

“When I got in the hallway, it was just two lines of doctors and nurses,” she says. “As I’m walking, I was crying because it was touching.’”

In a statement, Richmond University Medical Center said of Miracle: “We are beyond thrilled to have Miracle join our family of NICU graduates. Our staff of physicians, nurses and medical professionals developed a deep bond with Miracle and her family over her time with us.”

“Miracle, her mom and her siblings are forever part of our RUMC family,” the hospital said, “and while we miss her, we are overjoyed that she is now home where she truly belongs.”

Murray is between jobs but says that once she finds employment, she would like to buy gifts for the hospital staff who treated her first daughter.

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Miracle, now home, has no health issues though her mother keeps an eye on her and makes sure she keeps her health appointments.

“She’s just my bundle of joy, my blessing that God gave to me,” Murray says. “She’s a strong little girl.”

source: people.com