(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Brittany Molleda thought she was going for her standard 28 week checkup in February 2023 when her OB-GYN said she was having contractions.
“My doctor, out of precaution, sent me over to labor and delivery, where they adamantly told me, ‘You are in active labor,’” Molleda said.
That meant an hour-long ambulance ride to Northwestern’s Prentice Hospital, where her son Zadakiel was born after a harrowing delivery, which included Molleda going into cardiac arrest.
While Molleda and her wife were still grappling with the birth of their son at 2 pounds, 3 ounces, a social worker at Prentice Hospital told the couple from Pleasant Prairie, Wis., about the Ronald McDonald House nearby.
“Ronald McDonald was able to provide us, essentially, a home away from our home that gave us everything we needed,” she said.
That included time with her then-8-year-old daughter, who got to bake and play with other kids whose siblings were also getting treated.
“Being a part of normal family functions is extremely important to not only her but to us to really pull through the mental portion of this,” Molleda said.
She spoke glowingly of the genuine and warm volunteers who staff the house and the relief and sense of community it provided.
“I was able to show up every single day because I was living at the Ronald McDonald House because, unfortunately, the hospital didn’t let me sleep there,” she said.
After 101 days in the Ronald McDonald House, Molleda was able to take her son Zakadiel home. He’s now a smiley 9-month-old.
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