From the NICU to Hope: Catie Swenson, the Lambert Family, and God’s Hand in Tiny Lives

0:00 · Both

Show open from Church on the Rock. Then Zach brings Catie Swenson in, and with her, Corey and Lindsey Lambert.

1:38 · Zach

Hello and welcome to The Zach Rateliff Show. I’m Zach. This is Catie. She’s been on this show more than once — and today she brought a family with her.

2:06 · Zach

Ellie was born asleep and Winnie went straight to the NICU and has had just a rough little life.

2:28 · Catie

I met the Lamberts three years ago when Lindsey was pregnant with twins. Ellie was born asleep, and Winnie went to the NICU.

4:08 · Catie

Our youngest is nine now, but when he was born, he was born 10 weeks early. He weighed 2 pounds and 3 ounces. The NICU is a specialized department that takes care of premature, very sick babies. In Texarkana at Christus St. Michael we have a level three. The bigger organ issues get flown to Dallas or Little Rock.

5:08 · Catie

This is a nano-preemie diaper. That’s for babies up to two pounds.

7:08 · Catie

There are so many reasons a baby can be in the NICU. Premature is the leading cause — but it is not always something a mother did. We insert God’s promises. Every child is fearfully and wonderfully made.

8:09 · Catie

I’m not a nurse. We support families. September is NICU Awareness Month. We do a Be the Light challenge. You don’t have to do everything, but you can do something.

11:23 · Catie

fwmtexarkana.org. Volunteer forms. Donations. We’ve been at this five years. Some of those babies are in kindergarten now.

12:40 · Zach

I’ve been blessed in the last few months to see behind the curtain of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. People always see the overnight success. That took years — hours of sleepless nights. You and Scott aren’t billionaires. This takes the community. I trust the stewardship more and more.

14:20 · Catie

We do NICU Parents Night Out, and Winnie will come to that. We have a sunshine room, and Winnie is the reason — because we have several kiddos that are so much like Winnie. When they smile at you, it is like the sunshine hit your face and you just feel warm from the inside out.

16:07 · Zach

Catie Swenson. Corey Lambert. Lindsey Lambert. Thank you for sitting down.

17:56 · Lindsey

We got married in 2018. We live in Texarkana. On March 2, 2023, we found out it was twins.

20:01 · Lindsey

Complications. Preterm delivery at 33 weeks.

24:17 · Lindsey

I never wanted to hear those words. I’m sorry we couldn’t save your baby. Like you just don’t expect that, because I was not expecting to lose a baby. We had just seen her 24 hours ahead. She was moving. I saw her breathing. I saw both their heartbeats. There was no indication of a goodbye.

26:00 · Corey

They were both born at 11:03. That’s how quick he grabbed both of them out — seconds apart. We lost Winnie for 90 seconds. The doctor on staff informed me. I told Lindsey. I’m not sure if it really clicked with her, because she was kind of in a daze with all the medicine. I had to follow Winnie up, and I knew I had to eventually go tell the family.

27:10 · Lindsey

I didn’t hold Winnie for the first almost 48 hours. Couldn’t hold her for 72. I couldn’t see her for 48. I remember he had to take a picture of her because I couldn’t see her. Our family didn’t come back to my room till 1:30 a.m.

28:40 · Zach

That’s one thing I was told — after the baby’s gone, and then the dad’s gone, and then the families, nobody’s there. She said she had never felt so alone. Just in this room by herself. Was that your experience too?

30:00 · Lindsey

The nurses at St. Michael’s were amazing. They stayed with me till he came back.

32:59 · Lindsey

I met Catie through a blessing bag. Gas cards to go to Dallas for Winnie’s care. Winnie spent 82 days in the NICU. She underwent dialysis, then transferred back to Arkansas Children’s.

37:01 · Catie

I felt inadequate. I was just called to be present. Psalm 139 — I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

41:21 · Zach

Once Winnie came home — the wheelchair ramp, the gas cards to the children’s hospital. All that doesn’t come out of nowhere. The GAP program. Practical needs.

46:37 · Lindsey

Winnie has cerebral palsy. They thought she was blind. Then her vision improved. We call it a miracle.

50:19 · Catie

If you want to walk with these families — website, Facebook, volunteer, the 5K. And if you’re in that hallway right now, point yourself to Jesus. That’s where the hope is.

51:40 · Zach

Corey, Lindsey, Catie — thank you. God bless Winnie. God bless Ellie. God bless every family still sitting in that waiting room.