WACO, TX — A Central Texas baby girl was delivered by the very same doctor who delivered her father 23-years earlier, and both were micropremies in the same NICU.
"We had multiple kids I took care of who now have kids in here," said Dr. Darrell Wheeler, from Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Hillcrest.
It's the circle of life and a unique experience when a parent has their child at the same hospital with the same doctor.
"It's rewarding because I don't always get to see them grow up, and suddenly they show up as a mom and dad," Dr. Wheeler said.
For 23-year-old father Juwan Lujan, the coincidence goes deeper.
"When I first found out she was going to a preemie, I thought dang, it's just like me," said Lujan.
Both father and daughter were born as micropremies, weighing less than 3 pounds at the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Hillcrest.
"Very tiny, very sick, had severe complications and the chances of a good outcome were very small, but they made it out," said Dr. Wheeler.
Like Lujan, his daughter fought for three months in the NICU with many of the same nurses.
Mother and wife, Ashley Hall, says she's a little jealous of their similarities.
"The lines on their palms, they have the same lines, and I am like I don't like that, I want something too!" Hall said while laughing.
She says what matters most is that their baby girl is going home after a long battle in the NICU.
"I was so scared, I did not want to lose her," said Hall. "I just love her, and I just look at her and think I am so in love with you."
Both parents say this is only the beginning of their unbreakable bond, but even more so for Lujan.
"It's the best feeling in the world, and no one can take that away from me," Lujan said.
