Hannah & Brock McGuire
Hannah and Brock were born on March 8, 2005 at 33 weeks. Hannah weighed 3 lbs 13 oz and Brock weighed 4 lbs. 11 oz. Hannah had trouble breathing on her own and was immediately rushed to the NICU to be put on the CPAP machine. Brock followed her there shortly after with strong enough lungs to support breathing on his own. Hannah received oxygen for the first 24 hours and was then able to breathe strong enough on her own thereafter. Hannah had to be on a feeding tube since she wasn’t strong enough to get what she needed through regular feedings. They both had reflux, so the feedings were labored at that small of weight.
The NICU staff were our saviors during those long days. They gave the absolute best of care to Brock and Hannah and were strong supporters to Chanse and Paula both. The 13-day stay at the NICU became all about calorie intake and getting them to a certain weight. They were both fighters. Hannah had a bigger fight since she was a bit smaller. The nursing staff in the NICU handled Hannah’s many attempts, most successful, at removing her own IVs and feeding tubes. We could not have done it without the professional, patient and caring staff at our NICU. There was a support group parents that put together boxes for families when they left the NICU. It meant the world to us and made us feel a little less alone while we took home two babies each under 5 lbs each.
Brock and Hannah grew strong and met most all developmental milestones on time. They graduated Valedictorian and Salutatorian of their class in 2023. They were some of the first recipients of the Fearfully and Wonderfully Made scholarships and were able use that along with their Presidential Scholarship at Ouachita Baptist University. Brock is a Business major with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and is in the Honors program. Hannah is running Cross Country and Track & Field on scholarship. She is a Business major with a specialization in Management and minoring in Kinesiology. They will be graduating with their Bachelor’s degree from Ouachita Baptist in of May 2026.