ROGERSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Chris and Ashley Markum have always been fighters. They met when Chris Markum took a martial arts class in college that Ashley was teaching.

Sixteen years later, they're still fighting, but now it's for their son Ayden.

Ayden Markum was born on Jan. 31, 2013. Complications during the pregnancy forced Ashley Markum to deliver him prematurely at 26 weeks, 14 weeks early.

LuAnn Cowan, a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Cox South, said that nationally 90 percent of children born at 26 weeks survive. However, they are at higher risk of disabilit...