Kessley Jane Hales was born at 38 weeks. She was delivered by emergency C-Section after her Mother noticed she was not moving and after waiting for a response from baby most of the day. Kristi, Kessley's Mother, had a very "normal" pregnancy with no complications along the way. She called her OB and was told to come in immediately after letting them know that the baby had not responded or moved all day. Kessley was watched on ultrasound for 30 minutes and nothing but a heartbeat was found, no movement the entire time. Kristi was sent to the Hospital and Kessley was born 30 minutes later. On delivery the cord was wrapped around Kessley twice at the chest area. It was so tight that it came apart on delivery and she lost a lot of blood. She had an APGAR of 1 on delivery and suffered a collapsed lung but did start to respond once she was given a transfusion, was intubated, and the lung was inflated. The Children's Healthcare Helicopter was called and Kessley was prepared for flight to the Northside Atlanta NICU. She was stable enough to fly within an hour and when she made it to Atlanta, Dad was told that this baby is having a very hard time but they will try everything they can. Kessley was on a ventilator, had a chest tube, had a PIC line in her head, and was in critical but stable condition. She fought with everything in her little body and was breathing on her own and got the chest tube out by day 5. After that, she could be moved so they started running tests to see if she suffered any damage. Kessley's MRI showed Moderate/Severe brain damage. Once faced with this news and given all the possibilities her parents were heartbroken but ready to help her fight. Kessley did everything they said she wouldn't and got her self out of the NICU on day 13. She ate well, gained some weight, and kept breathing on her own and controlling her own body temperature. She was discharged with lots of therapy visits planned, lots of follow up Dr. Appointments, and a follow up hearing test because she did fail the newborn hearing screen. At 6 weeks Kessley was tested again for hearing and failed it, she went through all the other tests and the Audio Brain Response test showed exactly where her hearing is. She was fitted for hearing aids and got them at 3 months old. Today Kessley is almost 8 months old and is doing very well with her hearing aids. The family takes classes on how to help her with them and how to help her learn while wearing them. She has Physical and Occupational Therapy because she has several development delays but overall is doing very well and is exceeding all the expectations she had after seeing the MRI of her brain. Kessley is an amazing baby with constant smiles and has the ability to fight and the determination to overcome anything she is faced with. Her family's goal is to share her story and spread awareness that even in a healthy pregnancy that the cord can be very harmful and even fatal for the baby. Kessley's Mom was paying attention and noticed that Kessley was not moving and made the small decision to go check it out and it saved her life. A few more hours and the outcome would have not been the same. Kick counts and just knowing what your baby responds to are ways to help you know your baby is thriving. As the March of Dimes 2014 National Ambassador, Aidan and his parents will travel the country to share his story and help raise awareness of premature birth.