SEPTEMBER 2020
FALL 2019
98 Nights
Family Story
The Schatz Family When Noell and Dustin Schatz’s baby, Xavier, had to be airlifted to Fargo from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Bismarck, ND, they knew they had a long road ahead to reunite their family and bring their beautiful baby home. On top of that, Xavier’s twin, Xander, and mom, Noell, were still being cared for in Bismarck. Dustin knew that the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Red River Valley (RMHC-RRV) would be there and would be able to help lift their burdens.
new home in Steele, ND, when they found out they were pregnant and
expecting twins! On August 7th, 2019, Noell came home from work and her stomach felt extremely tight. At first, she didn’t think it unusual but soon she started having complications.
Noell was scared and worried that
she would have a miscarriage. Noell
knew the pain and heartache that their
family had gone through when she had previously had a miscarriage a few short years ago.
Noell and Dustin were airlifted from
Steele, ND, to the Bismarck hospital
where she was instantly wheeled into surgery for an emergency cesarean
Before their
section to deliver their twin boys three
Noell and Dustin,
extremely fragile; Xander was born at 2.6
family, were just
2.2 pounds, 12 inches long. The boys
NICU journey,
months early. Their little miracles were
along with their
pounds, 13 inches long, and Xavier was
settling into their
were immediately intubated and put into their own isolates.
Doctors noticed a problem with Xavier’s stomach that they weren’t equipped to fix. Just days old, Xander and Xavier
were separated for the first time when Xavier was airlifted to Sanford Health
Continued on pg. 2