At the five month mark of her pregnancy, Mya Novinger met with doctors to prepare for the worst. Doctors warned Mya that her baby girl was going to be born with many complications including monosomy 1p36, Shprintzen-Goldberg syndrome, and hydrocephalus. Mya held her faith and gave birth to Malaya on January 22, 2019. Doctors performed two major heart procedures on Malaya right after birth. Not long after she was released from the hospital, she had thirteen seizures in just three days. Since Malaya’s birth, the Novinger family was able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House of Iowa City so they could be by her side when she needed it most.
The Novingers lived in Davenport, Iowa so the opportunity to stay minutes away from Malaya meant the world to Mya, “I never thought I would be in the situation and every day I think about how lucky we are to be at the Ronald McDonald House. What would families do if this organization wasn’t here?” Mya witnessed first-hand the amount of care and love shown at the Ronald McDonald House. Every day the staff and volunteers cared for her family and made sure her stay was comfortable. “We were given food and a free place to stay. The love that is shown at RMH is incredible.”
Mya always felt welcomed and loved the variety of different families staying at the House. For her, it was like being part of a big family. “Even though my baby had some serious complications, it was easy to connect with another mother whose child was at the hospital for a routine check-up. At the end of the day, we are all away from home and that’s what eventually brings us all together.” Mya was able to share her own personal story along with Malaya’s, “I wanted to share our story because it helped me express what I was going through and allowed me to cope with the ups and downs. Ronald McDonald House not only gave us a place to stay, it helped us connect with a wonderful support system when we needed it most”.
