‘I will be there’: Nurse adopts teen mother of preemie triplets to keep family together
Shariya Small didn't like her mother the first time they met. Neonatal nurse Katrina Mullen was firm about the hospital's rules, and that didn't sit well with Small.
It didn't matter to Mullen. "I knew that I was going to be in their life forever in some capacity," she said.
The 14-year-old wasn't ready to be a mother yet, to wake up at odd hours for feedings, to change diapers, to give baths, to buy tiny pairs of pajamas, bibs, bottles and blankets — not for one baby, let alone three.
Months after giving birth, Small was released from a neonatal ward at Community Hospital North in Indianapolis. She bundled her tiny trio for their journey back to Kokomo, Indiana. The babies' teen father wasn't in the picture.
"If you need anything, I will be there for you," Mullen promised. She meant every word.
The two exchanged phone numbers.
Nurse, teen bonding in the neonatal ward
"I immediately thought that I needed to give her a shoulder to lean on," Mullen said.
Mullen made a habit of sitting down with Small, and the two began to chat. She would feed the triplets at night to give the teen a few extra hours of sleep.
In her 23 years as a neonatal nurse, Mullen had cradled thousands of babies, but these three were different. Being a mother of triplets is a rarity in their unit, but it was the mother's age that grabbed Mullen's attention.
Small's babies were born premature at 26 weeks, weighed less than 2 pounds each, and spent their first 4-5 months in incubators, attached to wires, tubes, and respiratory equipment to keep them alive.
When Small could hold them for the first time, Mullen was in the room. She was there to answer questions about childcare. She was present when the 14-year-old needed to talk or wanted to just "sit and chill."
"I would go sit in the office with her and talk about basically anything," Small said. "I would tell her some of my secrets and she talked to me about her experiences with being a teen mom. That's one of the things we clicked on while I was in the hospital."
After being discharged, the two stayed close, and Mullen made good on her promise — answering late-night text messages, phone calls and FaceTime video chats when the young mother needed guidance handling her son's feeding tube.
Mullen also sent gifts. Amazon packages would arrive unexpectedly at Small's doorstep. Sleepers for her son. Chairs for the babies. Then came the visits.
"She would drive from Brownsburg to Kokomo just to see me and the babies for like an hour," Small said, a trip that took a total of two hours round trip.
Mullen's actions weren't unnoticed by her peers. It became a running joke at the hospital. "People would ask me if I had brought those babies home with me yet, or 'how is my adopted daughter doing?,' because people knew that I was keeping in touch with her," Mullen said.
Then in April 2021, the playful joke hardened into reality.
A caseworker with Indiana DCS investigated teen mother's living conditions
Health problems forced Small's son to have an extended stay at Riley Hospital for Children. Small, now 15, wanted to be there for Samari but needed someone to care for her daughters, Sarayah and Serenitee.
Small called Mullen.
"It was 'no big deal'," Mullen said, agreeing to watch the babies for "a couple of days."
Samari's hospitalization triggered a caseworker with the Indiana Department of Child Services to investigate the living conditions of Small's home in Kokomo. The caseworker determined Small and her triplets needed to go into foster care.
Mullen's phone rang.
Without hesitation, she agreed to take the children.
"Just from being a nurse, I knew there would not be many foster homes that would take a teen mother with three kids. ... I didn't want them to be separated. I wanted them to stay together."
It didn't matter that Mullen was a single parent who had five other children — all boys: two adults, two in high school and a 7-year-old. What mattered was Small needed something. She needed Mullen. And Mullen sent her the following text: "I can't wait for you to come home!"
Mullen made room in her house for all four children, and, not yet a foster parent, took all the necessary classes. She adjusted her work schedule as well to help take care of the triplets.
After five months as the triplet's NICU nurse, and 668 days of fostering the teen, Mullen officially adopted Small on Feb. 6, 2023, becoming both a foster mother and grandmother in one go.
Adopted Indiana teen mother goes from high school dropout to college student with scholarships
Taking care of the triplets on her own had cost Small her education. She hadn't been in a classroom since giving birth.
After moving to Mullen's Brownsburg home, Small was able to find a school with a nursery. She made up for lost time by completing her freshmen courses in five weeks. She's on track to graduate early this May.
"Everybody told me that I wouldn't finish school, that I wouldn't achieve my goals, but now I'm graduating as a junior and was accepted into two colleges with academic scholarships," Small said.
After college, she plans to either attend law school or become a nurse like her mother.
Mullen couldn't be prouder.
"It's been great," she said. "Stressful? Yes. Sleepless nights? Yes. But worth it? Absolutely."
John Tufts covers evening breaking and trending news for the Indianapolis Star. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com.