A Black father’s heartfelt message to his newborn daughter in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is capturing hearts across TikTok.
On Jan. 10, Ed Andretti, a spiritual advisor and land steward based in Washington, D.C., uploaded a video of himself motivating his newborn daughter, Cathara, to breathe as she fought to expand her lungs inside an incubator afterbirth.
Determined and passionate, the young father empowered little Cathara to “breathe” and stay strong with a beautiful speech.
“Baby. Yo, you hear that beeping? That’s you. You’re breathing so good,” the holistic health guru said with conviction as Cathara tried to find a steady pace with her breathing. “You’re doing great. You’re amazing. You’re wonderful. Your lungs are expanding,” Ed continued. “You have the capacity. Keep breathing deep all the way to your lungs. You got this.”
In the caption, Ed offered more details about his daughter’s health and progress in the NICU. At the time of his post, Cathara’s lungs were expanding and her “breathing metrics” were “improving.” The precious newborn had also “doubled in size,” another promising sign of progress.
“She has these beautiful eyes that the whole family has fell in love with,” the proud father gushed, tagging his wife, Camelia Janelle, for the big update.
“She is up to 25 ml of mommy’s golden milk. She’s so active and is now getting vocal with us. The cutest cries. She’s so calm for the most part but very vocal if she’s uncomfortable. Mommy has been pumping so well @cameliajanelle. Our family is thankful for all the blessings bestowed upon us.”
Before signing off, Ed told fans that navigating life in the NICU was a challenge, but he vowed to remain “present” and resilient throughout the tough “journey.”
“Sending my love to all the NICU parents who are currently going through anything similar. Be strong and have faith,” he added. “The machine beeping is saying she’s breathing great and can come down on her oxygen level! It’s gon be like this for the rest of my life. Will always be one of her top cheerleaders.”
TikTok users reacted to Ed’s heartwarming speech.
In the comments section, netizens on TikTok showered Ed and baby Cathara with love and prayers. Fans spoke confidence, power and life into the father and daughter duo.
“Speak life into existence.”
“God is with you. Speak it into existence.”
“Amen! She is getting so strong.”
“Great dad behavior!”
Ed gave an update on Cathara’s health earlier this month.
It looks like Ed’s uplifting speech had a profound impact on his daughter’s health. On Feb. 4, the inspirational patriarch and his wife Camelia took to Instagram with a positive update about Cathara’s wellbeing. The couple shared a lighthearted video detailing their time in the NICU and used humor to discuss some of the challenges of multi-tasking their day-to-day lives with work and parenting while advocating for their daughter in the NICU.
In the caption, Ed revealed that he and his wife had been in the NICU since Oct. 23 monitoring their daughter’s health and progress.
“We hope this puts a smile your face and other NICU parents remain strong knowing that the storm didn’t last forever!” he penned, before giving fans a positive update about Cathara.
“Our baby girl is now over 4 lbs!!! Her breathing is getting better every day. Because we can hold her easier we’ve been connecting more. She’s the most peaceful baby on the block. She’s getting little body chunks,” the happy dad beamed.
“I’m thankful to have such a strong partner as @cameliajanelle. She’s dedicated to the baby’s growth and advocacy by any means. Fierce mama bear, mama lion, whatever you call it!”
Little Cathara is a fighter! According to Ed’s post on Jan. 24, the sweet newborn weighed “less than a pound” after she was born. MadameNoire is happy to hear about her progress!
This speech was everything!
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