Episode 362: Even Still, She Was Joy - Ellie's Mama

Losing a Child: Always Andy's Mom · Aug 20, 2026 · 1h 35m

Kayla called her God's baby from the very beginning.

She had been through six or seven miscarriages before Ellie arrived, and from the moment Ellie was born eight weeks early with a heart condition so severe the doctors were not sure she would make it, Kayla understood something in her bones: this child may not be hers to keep. She was only hers to love.

And love her she did. For 574 days in the hospital. Through intestinal surgery and open-heart surgery and ECMO twice and sepsis and a tracheostomy and every obstacle that life and medicine could throw at a tiny, premature little girl who had…