World Prematurity Awareness Day ...

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Today is World Prematurity Day. November is Prematurity Awareness Month.

I am the mom to two preemies. I have had two different and unique experiences. I just shared both Noah's story and Nathan's story on my Facebook ... trust me, they are edited short versions, but you get the jist.

Watching these boys grow up - through all their struggles .. not just from prematurity but from their medical issues that have nothing to do with them being early .... it has made me appreciate and view things so differently.

I have to say - that having a premature baby, and being in the NICU - is something ONLY ANOTHER PARENT who has been through it can truly understand.

So if you know someone who has a baby too soon, be a support. Do whatever you can do to help them out. Don't stress them out because - trust me - being there with your child is stressful enough. You feel - a lot of the time - like it's not even your child.

Imagine.... you have to ask permission to touch your child. You have to ask permission or be supervised to do a diaper change. Your baby is fed through a tube instead of at the breast or with a bottle. You are told you cannot hold your baby because their fragile little bodies can't handle it. When you do hold your child, there are so many tubes and wires connected to them then Frankenstein's monster himself. You are there alone. No one visits, sometimes due to NICU rules no one can. When you do get visitors, it's like a holiday.... actual people you know! You make friends with the nurses, and you miss them when you leave... it's like Stockholm syndrome. And you are grateful beyond measure to what they have done for your child and for you.

Having a preemie is hard.

So to all the parents out there who have had a preemie, {{HUGS}}. We are an elite group.