Brooks Marsh spent the first 97 days of his life in the NICU. At just 1 pound 10 ounces at birth, he needed a lot of extra attention. His mother, Tiffany Marsh, said initially she thought she was going to lose him.

In December of 2017, complications from her two blood clotting disorders spurred her into early labor and she was flown from Great Falls to Missoula, where Community Medical Center had a team that could accommodate her high-risk pregnancy. On Dec. 14, at just 24 weeks and three days old, Brooks arrived well before schedule. He survived delivery, but the statistics for premature male babies weren’t exactly in his favor. Tiffany said her son’s survival rate hovered at around 50 percent.

“It was really scary — we didn’t know what to expect,” Tiffany said. She and her husband Adam worried that Brooks’ lungs and eyes weren’t developed enough, that he’d have to be fed using a tube and whether or not debilitating medical conditions would plague him for the rest of his life. But when he was born, it became clear that Brooks was a fighter.

His oxygen levels were okay. His heart rate wasn’t too far off the mark. “He was trying to live,” she said. “It was really overwhelming.”

Brooks’ best chance at a healthy life was to continue receiving care in the NICU at the Community Medical Center. That meant that Tiffany had to find a way to remain by his side. Their doctor referred them to the Ronald McDonald House in Missoula. Initially, the fairly private family was skeptical of the shared space situation — that is, until they toured the facility.

“It was so awesome and the people there were amazing,” Tiffany said. “And it was nice. The room was big and we were able to stay there with our girls.” Tiffany’s room came with a second adjoining room so her husband and their three daughters could join her on weekends.

However, Montana’s winter roads sometimes prevented the Marsh clan from joining Tiffany. And on days when her family wasn’t around, Tiffany was able to lean on the staff and other residents of Ronald McDonald House. “You form this little support group with each other…you’re able to talk with one another,” she said. “There was a lot of times I would have been eating dinner by myself if it wasn’t for some of the staff there and some of the families.”

She remembers chatting with Kathy at the front desk every morning on her way to the hospital or having dinner with another staff member, Cindy, who often asked about Tiffany’s family. There was a community at Ronald McDonald House and that community really cared. “They made my family feel loved, and as much at home as possible,” Tiffany said.

It wasn’t just the staff, it was in the little things like how there was always a basket filled with shampoo and other necessities for anyone who might need them, and volunteers who would cook dinner and prepare breakfast burritos for the following morning. “I know that being alone for some of the time and not being able to have my family, I couldn’t have done it without the support of the people at Ronald McDonald House,” Tiffany said, “We’re very thankful for the Ronald McDonald House and all the workers.”

She’s also grateful for the health of her son.

Brooks is doing well and, miraculously, doesn’t have any serious medical problems. “The only thing we really had to worry about when we came home, is that he still continues to gain weight,” she said. “We are very blessed and very thankful that we had the outcome that we did.”