New parents Tyler and Irve Edmond surprised their family members by bringing their newborn baby home. The moment, which the couple shared on their TikTok, was made more memorable by the fact that their 7 months old Eli had spent 170 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, North Carolina, following his birth. 

@tylermiraye

As soon as we got the OK from Eli’s doctors we packed up the car and headed to see my family! Eli slept the entire trip until the last 2 hour stretch where he stared and admired his brother Donut the whole time 😂. The trip was long, but the faces on everyone was worth it! Eli had such a good time hanging out with everyone! 💙 #roadtrip #nicubaby #micropreemie #23weeker #miraclebaby

♬ original sound – @tylermiraye

A Heartwarming Moment

Irve and Edmond shared the video of them taking their baby to their relatives last month. The video and has since racked up over 4 million views. In it, Tyler Edmond can be seen placing a baby carrier holding baby Eli in front of his great-grandmother’s house, his grandaunt’s house and his grandmother’s house. She then goes on to ring the doorbell to their homes and hide in the bushes nearby. The Edmonds revealed that their baby boy was born via cesarean section on Nov. 15, 2022, at 23 weeks, and weighed in at just 1.9 ounces. They have actively documented their baby’s journey in the ICU. 

Great Recovery

Although Eli was born four months early, his parents share that he responded quickly to treatment at the NCIU.

“A lot of 23-weekers, micro preemie babies, they experience a lot of major head trauma, so they may get brain bleeds and seizures and things like that. Luckily, that wasn’t the case for Eli. It was a miracle that he didn’t have any long-lasting effects from being born that early,” Tyler Edmond told Good Morning America.

Commenters on TikTok responding to the video shared that her Aunty Rae’s reaction was the most memorable while also wishing the couple well. Now that the family has returned home, Eli occasionally uses an oxygen tank to help him breathe. For the rest of the year, Eli will be fed through a gastrostomy tube or G-tube. The parents, however, share that caring for Eli has been pretty stress-free.