Infant Shyne Graham defies odds, discharged from hospital five months after birth

What started as a visit to NYU Langone in Mineola for bleeding and mysterious contractions for Phaebe Turner, of Baldwin, on Jan. 24 turned into something more serious. Awakening from surgery later, she was greeted with congratulations. Her baby wasn’t due until Mother’s Day, but her emergency operation turned into the birth of a baby girl, Shyne Graham.

“It was shock, fear and, you know, kind of in disbelief, because (I) didn’t come into the hospital for that,” Turner recounted. “It wasn’t in the plans.”

Delivered by C-section, Shyne was more than 24 weeks premature, and weighed just under 2 pounds, 11 ounces. As a result, she began her life in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit — and as if that weren’t enough, there were other complications.

The day after she was born, her mother wasn’t feeling well, and had symptoms that included a fever. Hospital staff told her that was normal after a C-section, but Turner wasn’t convinced. She felt like it was something more.

Tests revealed that she had pneumonia, strep throat and E. coli — and Shyne had all three illnesses as well.

“The highest level of stress you can think of, times 1,000,” Turner said, recalling how she felt at the time. “You worry about the possibility of having to go through a loss again — not only the loss of a baby, but the loss of your life as well.

“What would have happened if you didn’t advocate for yourself?” she added. “If I said, ‘OK, this is going to pass’?”

Shyne was a “rainbow baby,” born after Turner had a previous miscarriage on Mother’s Day 2022 — exactly two years before the date Shyne was due.

Over the course of Shyne’s 147-day hospitalization, she breathed through a tube, and underwent two rounds of antibiotics to control the E. coli, a bacterial infection caused by strains of Escherichia coli bacteria, often leading to gastrointestinal illness. Turner visited her two or three times a day.

Doctors warned Turner that her daughter might not survive, but she remained positive and hopeful that she would eventually bring her home.

“We had many days where it could go in any direction,” Turner said. “We came in, prayed, and showed up.”

In April, Shyne began recovering from the E. coli. She went roughly 45 days without having to take antibiotics, and steadily grew healthier.

“A baby at 24 weeks, they just became viable,” her mother said. “You’re there, you see this baby, but she doesn’t look like one yet. She doesn’t look like the little bouncing baby, the idea of a fat baby you had in mind. That didn’t come until April.”

Shyne had grown to 10 pounds by June, roughly the size of a 1-month-old. The hospital staff called her a miracle baby, Turner said.

On the day of her discharge — Juneteenth, or June 19 — the staff surprised her with a “discharge graduation.”

“I didn’t believe it until it actually happened,” Turner chuckled. “You have dates in mind. When you initially go into the NICU, they tell you your baby should be home around their due date. We were a month (past) our due date, so it was just day by day.”

Now, in addition to focusing on her newborn, Turner, a senior custom service representative for an alcohol beverage company, is in the process of starting a nonprofit called SheWellness, to create a way for women to advocate for themselves in an often intimidating hospital setting — as she did when she spoke up about not feeling well after Shyne’s delivery.

“As much as we hear about childbirth and pregnancy, no one speaks about the NICU, when you and your child are both sick at the same time,” Turner said. “I’m thankful for my support system, but I know there are women who don’t” have one.

“This journey, the last six months with Shyne, has created more of a purpose for me,” she added. “A purpose in the sense of, there has to be something more that can be done for women in situations like this.”