Lucinda “Luci” Shirley Paige Folden is the newest member of the Folden family in Aberdeen, South Dakota. She is the third child of Josie and Cody Folden, who faced a challenging journey to her arrival.
“We had nine miscarriages before Luci,” Josie Folden told Sanford Health News. “At one point, we were told it might not be in the cards for us.”
After nine heartbreaking losses, the Foldens learned they were pregnant again just before Christmas 2022.
“Each week, we became more cautiously optimistic,” Josie said. “We loved the baby right away but tried to guard our hearts. As the weeks passed and she kept growing, we eventually reached the point where we brought a third baby home.”
Late in her difficult pregnancy, Josie experienced health concerns, prompting doctors to monitor her for preeclampsia and brain swelling. She was flown to Sioux Falls for intensive care at Sanford Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
Luci was born four weeks early in August 2023, weighing four pounds, five ounces.
“She was perfectly healthy and did fantastic,” Josie said. “However, she started to fail her car seat tests due to oxygen dips and continued to lose weight, dropping just below four pounds, which led to an automatic NICU admission.”
Their nearly week-long stay in the Boekelheide Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) revealed an unexpected connection.
Same NICU, Same Nurse
Josie herself had spent her first days in the same NICU 28 years ago.
“I was born with pneumonia and an underdeveloped diaphragm and had trouble breathing,” Josie said. “I was also flown to Sioux Falls and was in the NICU. When Luci was admitted, my parents and I reminisced about my time there.”
During a conversation with the NICU staff, Josie’s parents shared photos of Josie’s NICU care team from 1995.
“Some nurses overheard us talking about me being a NICU baby here,” Josie said. “They mentioned that some nurses have been here for over 28 years.”
One of those nurses was Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Deb Koens.
“The next time I came back into the room, they showed me a picture,” Koens said. “Josie said, ‘I think we have a picture of you taking care of me as a baby.’ Sure enough, it was me.”
Koens was pictured with baby Josie and her mother 28 years ago.
“It was hard to believe they kept the photo and found it,” Koens said. “That was pretty special.”
This full-circle moment is rare in Koens’ line of work.
“Knowing I cared for both of them makes me feel like this has been a long, successful career,” she said.
More Reasons to Celebrate
“My parents were told multiple times that I wouldn’t survive,” Josie said. “I was baptized in the hospital, and they never thought I was coming home. Deb was part of the care team that ensured I got to come home and someday have three babies of my own. It was amazing to sit down with Deb.”
Josie and Koens remain connected through social media, where Josie shares pictures of Luci and her older siblings, Addie and Ollie.
“It’s been fun to see her grow and thrive through those pictures,” Koens said.
The Folden family’s ties to Sanford Health extend beyond the NICU. Cody’s twin sister, Ashley Baker, is a nurse at Sanford Medical Center in Bismarck, North Dakota. She gave birth to Luci’s cousin Dax within 15 hours of Luci’s birth, providing more reasons to celebrate.
“She was a few days late, and Luci was a month early,” Josie said.
The Foldens are overjoyed.
“It was worth trying for a third because here she is, one of my besties,” Cody Folden told Sanford Health News.
“The twin boy had a girl, and the twin girl had a boy,” Josie laughed. “Now, we have these cousins who are almost twins in age and get to grow up together, just like my husband and his twin, Ashley, did. It’s super cool, and it all happened at Sanford.”
