Mighty Mia’s Chance

My name is Mia Zena Lyutin, I came roaring into this world 10 weeks early with my twin sister Lia. My mom and dad were really pleased to hear both of our cries for the first time Monday evening at Richmond University Medical Center but our real battle had just begun. Born at 30 weeks and 4 days I weighed 3.9 lbs and my sister a minute after at 3.2 lbs and our journey to grow began in the NICU as we needed professional assistance to eat and breath. During some general testing the doctors had picked up on my PVL (Periventricular Leukomalacia) that caused a grade 3 brain bleed that I’ve suffered before my dad turned 30. Even though mom and dad knew this was a serious and life changing diagnosis they decided they would not let anything get in the way of me having every possible fighting chance in the world. Since the diagnosis and another diagnosis of CP (Cerebral Palsy) from my neurologist Dr. Wolf, I also had a major set back with infantile spasms that my mom caught during one scary night which is a rare and very dangerous form of child epilepsy. My seizures are under control now thanks to treatment and daily medication. I am working on learning new things little by little. Doing things that I should be doing for my age is super tough because I have poor head control and low motor skills but I’m trying to get a hang of it. What will help me most is therapy, therapy, and more therapy. I need to get my brain working and build bridges over the damage from the brain bleed and seizures. Therapy is what will help me catch up and achieve what everyone knows I am capable of. Outside of therapy I am a normal baby girl who makes her whole family feel like the luckiest people in the world. I enjoy music, stories, poems, funny cartoons, watching my sister dance and play. I hope that one day I can join her as she jumps around the couch to our baby shark song. We appreciate all the help we can get, we are asking for your support for our baby girl for much needed therapy and any tools she may need to make her more and more independent. Follow our journey on [email redacted] @miazenastrong