From the intense world of professional cycling to the unexpected twists of pregnancy, Mya Parham’s journey from elite athlete to first-time mom is one marked by strength, intuition and grace under pressure. On April 16, 2025, Mya and her husband, Justice, welcomed their daughter, Zoe, at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital at 34 weeks and 2 days. She spent the first 12 days of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Thanks to the swift, coordinated care from the maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) specialists, OB/GYN team, NICU and lactation consultants, both mom and baby are doing well. Mya’s experience highlights the full continuum of care, from labor and delivery to neonatal support.
Trusting the Process: Trying to Conceive
Mya and her husband, Justice, had been trying to get pregnant but each passing month without a positive test wore on her emotionally. “I wasn’t getting pregnant, and I started to feel sad. It was taking a toll on my mental health,” Mya shared. “My husband told me, ‘We’re not going to try anymore because you’re getting obsessed. Let’s just let it happen on its own.’ So, we stopped trying.”
Then, during her grandmother’s 90th birthday celebration in August 2024, something unexpected happened. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh, you’re not pregnant yet?’ And then they said, ‘Okay, let’s all pray over your womb.’ Well... I was already pregnant and didn’t know it, but looking back, the signs were already there.”
A Ride Like No Other: First Clues Something Was Different
Shortly after returning home, Mya—still in athlete mode—took off on a 60-mile training ride. “I was freezing, and it was 100 degrees. I was shaking. I threw up. I thought I was having heat stroke,” she said.
The symptoms escalated, including nausea from food smells, sudden aversions and persistent fatigue. That’s when Mya took a pregnancy test that revealed a faint line. She knew instantly. “My husband was like, ‘No, no, no, it’s too light. I need it to be darker.’ I’m like, ‘Bae, it’s literally there.’”
“I kept testing over and over before my first OB/GYN appointment.”
By October 2024, at her eight-week appointment, Mya and Justice saw their baby’s heartbeat for the first time, a moment shared with their OB/GYN, Anisha Farishta, MD. Dr. Farishta is an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and is affiliated with Memorial Hermann Sugar Land.
A few weeks later, the couple found out the gender and wanted to make the moment extra special. “We didn’t want a big party or anything,” Mya said. “So, we went to Build-A-Bear. My husband built a boy bear, and I built a girl bear. We had my best friend put the right one in a box and bring it to our backyard. We opened it together and it was a girl! I cried. It was such a sweet moment.”
From that point on, everything felt real. Mya’s mom, Amy Dillon, director for Women’s and Children's Services at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land, had even dreamed it was a girl and wasn’t surprised. “She kept saying, ‘It’s a girl, I know it’s a girl,’” Mya laughed. “She was right.”
In November, the couple announced their pregnancy publicly with a photo shoot.
Pushing Through: From Early Pregnancy Challenges to Warning Signs
Despite the excitement, Mya’s first trimester was difficult.
“It was terrible. I was crying every day. I was sick from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleep,” she said. “I wasn’t throwing up, but everything made me nauseous.”
Dr. Farishta prescribed B6, which helped. By her second trimester, Mya felt like herself again. She felt energized and determined to stay active. “I went to the gym every day. I did 20 minutes on the stair master, then weights. I even kept cycling until December, but my bump got too big, and it wasn’t safe for the baby anymore,” she said.
At 25 weeks, Mya joined her family on a trip abroad but the swelling in her legs and ankles caught her attention. Though it subsided when she got home, she couldn’t shake the feeling something was off. Trusting her instincts, Mya held her baby shower at 27 weeks. “Something kept telling me to do everything early—my baby shower, my maternity shoot. I didn’t know why, but I felt I needed to be ready,” Mya said.
By 30 weeks, her fatigue worsened. “I remember being at the gym thinking, ‘Something’s not right.’ My tummy hurt and I could barely finish. I had to stop,” she said.
That week, she also began having nosebleeds, headaches and vision changes. “My eyes were so swollen I could barely open them. I was seeing black dots constantly. I kept telling myself, ‘You’re healthy. You’ve done everything right.’”
At her 34-week ultrasound appointment, Mya’s blood pressure was 160/100. “Dr. Farishta said, ‘You have preeclampsia with severe features. I have to admit you right now.’”
Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure and, if left untreated, can become life-threatening.
Mya was stunned. “I broke down crying. I felt like I failed my baby.”
Justice was at work when she texted: “Babe, don’t freak out, but they’re admitting me.” He rushed home and headed to the hospital.
A Fight for Stability: Labor, Delivery and the First Moments with Zoe
At 34 weeks, Mya was placed on a magnesium drip to help prevent seizures or a stroke. “Dr. Farishta was really concerned,” said Mya. “Even on magnesium, my blood pressure hovered in the 150s. That’s when she said, ‘We need to start the induction.’”
Medication helped soften Mya’s cervix and start labor, but progress was slow. By morning, she was only 1.5 centimeters dilated. Hours later, at 3 centimeters, Dr. Farishta broke her water and swept her membranes to speed things up. “I really wanted a natural birth,” Mya said. “I was on the yoga ball, doing squats and walking, just trying to get her to drop. I made it to 5 centimeters.”
But as contractions intensified, so did the risks. Mya was placed on Pitocin, a medication to strengthen contractions but it clashed with the magnesium she was still receiving to keep her blood pressure down.
“Dr. Farishta said, ‘I know you want a natural birth, but I’m worried. Your magnesium is fighting the Pitocin. I don’t want you to be at 9 centimeters and have a seizure because your body’s too tense.’”
The decision weighed heavily on Mya. But as her contractions grew unbearable and her blood pressure remained elevated, she accepted the recommendation for an epidural. “I was in so much pain. My husband and best friend were trying to massage me through it, but I couldn’t even lie down. When I hit 7 centimeters, I gave in and got the epidural.”
Unfortunately, the first epidural didn’t fully take, leaving Mya with pain on one side of her body. When the anesthesiologist returned to place a second epidural, her blood pressure crashed. “I remember saying, ‘I’m about to faint.’ Then everything went black.”
Once stabilized after her second epidural, she began to dilate quickly. “Once the pain was under control, I dilated fast. They had me do a few practice pushes, and the nurse said, ‘The head is right there.’”
Thirty minutes later, on April 16, 2025, Zoe was born. “I prayed for skin-to-skin, even though she was a preemie. And they gave me five beautiful minutes with her.”
Zoe was taken to the NICU. Justice followed while Mya stayed behind. “He came back and showed me a picture. She had tubes in her nose and mouth. Only her little eyes were visible. I just cried.”
Still, Mya was determined to breastfeed. “They let me start hand-expressing on Monday. By Wednesday, I was pumping two to three ounces. I was so proud of that.”
Twelve Days of Strength: Zoe’s NICU Journey
While still on magnesium, Mya’s blood pressure stabilized. Determined to see Zoe, she pushed herself to get moving. “I didn’t want to stay in bed. I wanted to walk, move and take milk to my baby,” she said.
Zoe weighed just 5 pounds, 1 ounce, and was breathing with oxygen support while receiving nutrition through an NG tube. “The nurses told me she was doing well for a preemie,” Mya recalled.
The NICU team guided Mya through each step from feeding Zoe her milk to helping her start nursing with a nipple shield. When Zoe developed mild jaundice, a short round of phototherapy resolved it. “She was a little fighter,” Mya said.
At times, Mya worried, especially when Zoe’s oxygen levels dipped after feedings. Doctors reassured her it was reflux, a common issue in premature babies that Zoe would likely outgrow. A final test showed one kidney was slightly enlarged, as seen on prenatal ultrasounds, but it was functioning well.
Then Maya heard the words she had longed for: “Bring the car seat tomorrow.”
She broke down in tears. At 36 weeks and after 12 days in the NICU, Zoe was ready to be discharged. “After everything, she was coming home,” said Mya. “I was overwhelmed with gratitude. She showed me how strong she is.”
From Pregnancy to Postpartum: A Continuum of Compassionate Care at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land
Throughout her experience, Mya says she felt deeply supported not only as a patient, but as a mother, a woman and a person with her own hopes and fears.
From the moment she was admitted, Dr. Farishta led her care with patience and understanding. “She never rushed me. She told me, ‘We have time. I want this to be safe, but I also want you to feel in control.’ She even shared that she had preeclampsia with both her kids and that meant everything to me. It made me feel seen,” Mya said.
Labor and delivery nurses worked alongside Mya to honor her birth preferences encouraging movement, music and natural methods as long as it was safe. “They knew I wanted a natural birth. They supported me with aromatherapy, the yoga ball, the peanut ball—anything to help. I never felt pressured. I felt like I was a part of every decision.”
In the NICU, Zoe’s nurses quickly became extended family. “They were amazing. I called at all hours,” said Mya. “They always answered with updates and texted me photos after her first bath. Those little things meant so much especially the things I couldn’t be there for.”
The postpartum team also made sure Mya’s recovery was carefully supported by managing her pain, monitoring her blood pressure and attending to her emotional health. Lactation consultants were also an important part of her care, providing daily support and guidance with breastfeeding from the very beginning, helping her feel confident and never alone throughout the process.
Memorial Hermann Sugar Land offers a full range of women’s health services from routine well-woman exams to high-risk pregnancy care and postpartum support. With affiliated, board-certified OB/GYNs, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, advanced maternity care and a Level II NICU, our hospital is committed to helping women feel supported, safe and empowered at every stage of life.
“Everyone from the doctors and nurses to the people bringing my lunch made me feel cared for,” said Mya. “Even the food service manager stopped by to ask if meals were okay. They didn’t just treat Zoe and me medically. They cared about our whole well-being. I had that continuum of care from the OB floor to the NICU to postpartum. I felt cared for, heard and supported at every step.”
Zoe Today and a Message to Other Moms
Now home and thriving, 3-month-old Zoe is catching up fast. “She’s 13 pounds now, strictly breastfed and already rolled over twice!” Mya said. “She’s so alert and vocal. She’s sassy, like her mom. Very expressive. And if that breast isn’t there when she wakes up… she screams!”
Though motherhood has its challenges, it’s also brought joy to Mya, her husband and their families.
“When things don’t go as planned, it’s easy to feel like you’ve failed but you haven’t,” said Mya. “If something doesn’t feel right, speak up. Trust your instincts and advocate for yourself. You know your body better than anyone. And most importantly, remember that you’re never alone and those long, emotional NICU nights? One day, they’ll just be a memory, a part of your story that made you stronger.”
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