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Florida couple Kareena Athias and Nathan Seeman welcomed daughter Kate on Dec. 26, 2024
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Kate was born weighing just over 1 lb. and spent a total of 81 days in the NICU
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On March 17, when it was finally time to go home, hospital staff held a “graduation” ceremony for Kate and her parents
A Florida couple’s first baby, who was born at 27 weeks and weighed just over 1 lb., recently returned home after 81 days in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“It’s been a rollercoaster,” Kareena Athias, 30, tells PEOPLE about the months after daughter Kate’s birth.
“The whole journey leading up to it was scary,” adds her husband, Nathan Seeman, also 30.
Kate, whose name is a combination of Kareena and Nathan’s first names, was originally due on March 27, 2025. However, when she was 24 weeks pregnant, Kareena, who is a nurse, experienced weird symptoms and contacted her OB-GYN.
At first, Kareena’s doctor said her symptoms were normal but suggested she get an ultrasound just to be safe.
“I went over to the hospital and got an ultrasound done,” says Kareena. “Then they had a high risk doctor come and speak with me. At that point, she let me know that my cervix was very short and basically it was imminent that [Kate] was going to be born early.”
Kareena was ordered to go on immediate bedrest. Almost a month later, she went to see her OB-GYN for another checkup. An exam indicated that she was starting to dilate so on Dec. 24, 2024, she was admitted to Broward Health Coral Springs.
Broward Health
Kate, who was born at 27 weeks, gets a graduation from Broward Health Coral Springs
Although she had “seen so much” as a nurse, knowing that her baby was going to be born early and need to spend time in the NICU “was just the worse case scenario,” says Kareena.
“It was very scary,” adds Nathan. “But luckily, we have a strong support system with her family able to help us.”
When Kate was born on Dec. 26, she weighed just over 1 lb., making her a micropreemie. Knowing the journey ahead of them, Kate says that the “biggest sigh of relief” was seeing their daughter for the first time and hearing her cry.
The baby was then taken to be cleaned and evaluated before going to the NICU. “I got to see her for two minutes,” Kareena remembers. “So it wasn’t long that we got to lay eyes on her, but we were glad we did.”
Getting discharged before her daughter was “really, really hard,” Kareena recalls.
“Everyone was leaving with their baby and walking out, and we had to leave our baby there,” she says. “[I] did a lot of sobbing that night becauseIt was just the first night we were going home without her.”
For the next three months, Kareena and Nathan visited the NICU every day to see Kate.
“She was having these episodes where she would just stop breathing for an extensive period of time, which is very scary,” Kareena says. “The nurses were patting her back to try to get her to breathe again. But she did pretty well for the most part and was on the right path.”
Broward Health
(L-R) Kareena Athias, baby Kate and Nathan Seeman
Gradually Kate’s condition improved and her weight progressed to 5 lbs., at which point she was able to eat from a bottle and breathe on her own — and on March 17, the day of her discharge from the NICU, the hospital staff threw Kate a “graduation” party.
“It really felt like she had accomplished something so great,” Kareena remembers of the emotional moment. “We were just so proud of her for getting through 81 days. Now she’s moving on ready to go out into the world.”
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Kareena says that they’re tired from the experience but happy. “It’s hard to see the end in sight at the beginning when you’re right in the thick of everything,” she says. “But once it’s done, it’s the most amazing feeling.”
Read the original article on People
