Thursday, November 17, 2011

Preemie Remembrance....

November 17 - Prematurity Awareness Day ....

As many of you know, who read my blog regularly, I have had two premature babies.

Noah Alexander - born weighting 1lb 12.2 oz ...... 13 3/4 inches long.......... born at 33 weeks, the size of a 24 weeker ...
 Noah was on a vent for the first 40 hours of his life, then proving all the doctors who said he wouldn't live wrong...... he was off of it!! 
 With Beanie Baby HOPE ... Noah at his lowest weight - 1lb 11oz at 3 days old... 
 His itty bitty foot in my hand ....  


Nathan Patrick - born weighting 3lbs 4oz .... 15 3/4 inches long ........ born at 36 weeks, the size of a 31 weeker ... 
 Nathan was constantly under the bili lights ....... I called him my sunbather ...  and he was tube fed because he couldn't get nippling a bottle  ... thanks to his sub-mucus cleft palate ... 
 The picture below is of Calahan and Noah looking in on Nathan through his bed...  the NICU actually loved this picture - stole it from me (ha ha ha) and asked if they could use it in future publications to talk about how siblings are integrated in the NICU ... of course I said yes!!

I am the Mommy to TWO Preemies!  Two babies with medical issues.  Two babies who game too early and too small.  I've been in the NICU twice, and I've brought home two babies who were under five pounds. 

Before having a preemie - you are so naive ...  you know there is a world out there of babies who are too small, you know some of them don't make it ... you know it exists but it's the whole IT WON'T HAPPEN TO ME mentality....

It does happen ...

Then you become way to familiar with all the things that can go wrong ...  brain bleeds, feeding issues, A's & B's...  temperature holding issues, sensory issues, tube feeding, PIC lines, leads and daily weigh ins... not to mention the world of breathing tubes, oxygen... and RSV ...

It's not an easy world to enter into once.... let alone twice. 

Educate yourself....  you never know if it could happen to you, or someone you love.......

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