When Caroline and Garreth Golden finally took their baby boy for a walk around the neighborhood — sunlight on his face and a soft breeze in his hair — tears streamed down Caroline’s face.

“We took him on his first walk around the neighborhood yesterday, and I cried the entire time,” Caroline Golden, 27, told People. “It’s the stuff you dream of — the little things. Waking up, making your coffee and then cuddling your baby. Things that most people just take for granted.”

That quiet, ordinary joy marked an extraordinary victory. Their son, Gabriel, born at just 22 weeks and weighing 1 pound, 1 ounce, spent 350 days in the neonatal intensive care unit before finally coming home.

A Fragile Beginning

Caroline, a kindergarten teacher from Tennessee, learned early in her pregnancy that something wasn’t right.

She was just seven weeks pregnant when she began bleeding during a family vacation. Though she didn’t miscarry, the bleeding returned seven weeks later.

Rushed to the emergency room, she learned she had a subchorionic hematoma — “when blood pools under a membrane that connects a mom’s uterine wall to her baby’s amniotic sac,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Caroline’s doctor ordered biweekly ultrasounds, but the bleeding continued. Her high-risk obstetrician explained that her placenta wasn’t properly attached to her uterus because of the hematoma.

At 16 weeks, Caroline was placed on bed rest. By 22 weeks, she was hospitalized. Doctors hoped she could carry Gabriel for another month or two, but just five days later, severe pain signaled something was wrong.

“I was in an uncontrollable amount of pain, and they put me on the monitor. They were losing Gabriel’s heartbeat,” she recalled to People.

That evening, on Sept. 30, 2024, doctors performed an emergency cesarean section.

“I’m not going to get to meet my baby before he passes away,” she remembered thinking as she was placed under anesthesia.

A Miracle in the Making

Gabriel was born weighing 1 lb., 1 oz., and was immediately placed on a breathing tube. Doctors warned his parents that he likely wouldn’t survive the night. The hospital staff even gave them a tour of the bereavement room.

That evening, Caroline and Garreth said a final prayer over their baby — but the next morning, Gabriel was still alive.

Their doctor called it a “miracle.”

For the next 10 days, Gabriel showed small signs of improvement. But the family’s struggle was far from over.

Over his first month and a half of life, Gabriel’s oxygen levels plummeted so severely that he nearly died three times.

“The good Lord and the good Lord only is how we made it,” Caroline said of that traumatic time.

Faith, Fragility and Fight

In December, doctors recommended that Gabriel be transferred to another hospital better equipped to manage his breathing complications.

Though his health stabilized, he was diagnosed with chronic lung disease. By April 2025, doctors told Caroline and Garreth their son would need a tracheostomy to survive — a small opening in his neck to help him breathe.

To stay close to his care team, the couple moved from Tennessee to Mississippi, into Garreth’s mother’s home. In May, Gabriel underwent the surgery that would help him breathe and grow stronger.

Dr. Meaghan Ransom, a member of Gabriel’s care team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told People that treating babies like him can be both challenging and rewarding.

“Taking care of babies like Gabriel, who have developed chronic lung disease from their extreme prematurity, is one of the greatest challenges and one of the greatest joys in medicine,” Ransom said. “We walk step by step with parents in navigating the decision for tracheostomy.”

Coming Home

By mid-August 2025, nearly a year after he was born, Gabriel’s parents finally brought him home.

“You forget that he’s yours when they’re there for so long,” Caroline told People. “It’s overwhelming — but in all of the best ways.”

After 350 days in the NICU, the family settled into a new routine. Garreth planned to return to work in January, while Caroline stayed home to care for Gabriel — who now weighed 16 pounds and loved being held.

For the Goldens, every morning was a reminder of what they had endured — and what they had gained.

“We have a lot of hope that babies born early can grow and thrive, with lung development continuing through childhood,” Ransom said.

That hope now fills their home, carried in every coo and giggle, every quiet cup of coffee and every walk beneath the Mississippi sky.

A Life of Grace and Gratitude

Gabriel’s story is one of fragility and faith, science and miracles — a testament to the power of love that endures through fear, exhaustion and uncertainty.

Each breath he takes is a small victory. Each sunrise is a reminder of grace.

For Caroline and Garreth, the journey changed everything — what they value, how they love and how they see the world.

She added, “I just hope that he understands how proud we are of him.”

After 350 days of waiting, they no longer measure time in days or weeks — but in moments of wonder.

“It’s overwhelming,” Caroline said softly, “but in all of the best ways.”

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