Baby Raelynn underwent extensive care, including open heart surgery, while in the hospital
Credit: GoFundMe
NEED TO KNOW
- Raelynn Kubiske, born at just 23 weeks, is the smallest surviving baby by weight at her hospital
- She spent 375 days in the NICU, requiring extensive care including open-heart surgery, and now needs round-the-clock care
- Her mother, who has lupus, faces her own health challenges and may need a kidney transplant soon
A Wisconsin baby has finally left the hospital after over a year in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Raelynn Kubiske was born almost four months early, at 23 weeks and six days gestation on July 18, 2025. Doctors at UW Health in Madison told WMTV 15 News that Raelynn’s birth was historic for the hospital.
“She is the smallest surviving baby by weight at 355 grams to graduate from our NICU. She makes history,” said Dr. Claudette Onyelobi, a kids neonatologist and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Raelynn’s parents — Aubree Winnekens and Aaron Kubiske — shared that their daughter’s eyes were sealed shut and her skin was translucent when she was born.
Credit: GoFundMe
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“It was very unreal,” Kubiske told the outlet. “Even though you know what’s going on and you know the situation, it still doesn’t feel like something you’re supposed to see.”
The family recalled that 45 minutes after Winnekens had a C-section, doctors were preparing for the worst. Kubiske said doctors asked their family to come down to say goodbye to Raelynn, but they decided to plead with Dr. Onyelobi to continue treatment.
“And the family said, ‘Dr. O, do everything in your power to help save her,” recalled Dr. Onyelobi. She said she’d worked on many premature babies, but none as small as Raelynn. “This has became a life and death situation.”
Winnekens, who was diagnosed with lupus around 11, ended up spending three weeks in the hospital during her pregnancy due to health issues. She had to go on dialysis because her heart and kidneys were shutting down.
Credit: GoFundMe
“And for a while, I was doing good, after I had her,” said Winnekens. “The day before I had her was my last dose of dialysis.”
Winnekens asked her own medical team to do every possible thing to save their baby daughter.
“She said, ‘I heard everything you said, Dr. O., I need you to do everything in your power to give my baby a chance at life and please provide her a trial at life and give her every medical intervention that you have at your avail,’” remembered Dr. Onyelobi. “At that’s what we did.”
When doctors told Winnekens it was time to deliver Raelynn at 23 weeks, they explained that babies in her situation often face significant challenges which can lead to an extended NICU stay.
“They’ll have a myriad of different things they’ll have to face and battle during their time in the NICU, which can be anywhere from six months to the first year of age,” said Onyelobi. “A lot of times, babies who are small for gestational age are three times more likely to die, to have higher mortality rates, to have higher rates of morbidity and illness.”
During Raelynn’s first year of life, she required extensive care and even underwent open heart surgery. On July 28, 2026, Raelynn went home from the hospital after 375 days. She requires around-the-clock care from both parents. Unfortunately, Winnekens is undergoing a different health emergency.
“Now I’m facing those consequences of now needing a transplant,” she said. Her kidney function is now at 8%, and she’s on the edge of starting dialysis again.
Dr. Onyelobi said that Raelynn, who is now 13 months and weighs 18 lbs., has already surpassed significant odds.
“Raelynn has her work cut out for her. She has beat several odds to come to this point. To not only survive past the first 24 hours of life, the first month of life, but now we’re talking the first year of age,” she said.
“And so that’s an amazing feat when you are born so small for gestational age. And so she is a walking miracle. I mean she isn’t walking yet, but she is a real-life miracle.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help support Raelynn and her parents. Click the link here.
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