Bienvenidos Abby Christina

Abby Christina Perez was born several weeks early on September 2, 2008 weighing just under 4 pounds.  Her parents, Jorge a reporter for the Hispanic weekly newspaper, El Informador, and Norma, a stay-at-home live in Dalton, Georgia with their 4 year old daughter, Ashley Carolina. 

Abby’s premature birth has meant spending her first days in the neonatal intensive care unit at T. C. Thompson Children’s Hospital. The Perez family has enjoyed the convenient access to the hospital that Ronald McDonald House has provided since Abby’s stay in the hospital. 

“When you talk about the hospital, you talk about stress,” says Jorge Perez

The stress of medical care duties for their little girl is relieved for awhile Jorge says, once they walk through the doors of the Ronald McDonald House each day. 

“If the Ronald McDonald House was not here, we would have to drive back and forth.  I would probably not see Abby everyday,” says Norma Perez.

The Perez family are no strangers to the Ronald McDonald House.  They first heard about “the home away from home” from a family friend whose son had severe spinal problems which prompted a six month stay at a Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The Perez family also share that they have several friends who have used the Chattanooga Ronald McDonald House over the years. 

The nightly meals and comfortable, safe surroundings of the Ronald McDonald House has allowed Norma and Jorge to have quality time with their daughters and continue a somewhat normal family routine.