preemietees
Bio
We have been through so much in the past three years. Elliot is doing well - he is happy and healthy...most of the time. Somewhere along the way it...
 
 
 
 

Most Popular

Recent Comments

I Will Never Forget...Our Journey Through the NICU

November 24, 2008 9:58 pm by preemietees in Family
  • Share This Post
  • Pin It
  • 3
  • Sparkle (
    )
     

This is sort of a re-posting of some thing I did at the very beginning. With Thanksgiving around the corner I cannot go through a holiday or milestone in our lives without thinking about how far we have come. It is hard to believe that Elliot was in the NICU over 3 years ago! It seems like a lifetime ago and at the same time it feels like yesterday.

The NICU can be described in one word "Rollercoaster!" And it is one wild ride. One moment your baby is wonderful and everything is right with the world and the next moment you are holding your breath out of shear terror at something completely unexpected.

We are told that our NICU experience was somewhat mild in comparison. I think it is hard to make those comparisons - the NICU is a tough place to be if you are there three days or 90 or more. I believe we got off easy...but I also know it was a wild ride nevertheless.

Elliot was born 10 weeks premature weighing in at 1 lb. 12 oz. He was severely IUGR. The cord, his lifeline, was faulty and he was not getting what he needed to grow. This defect was discovered at 25 weeks and the doctors opted to keep him in, because they said, in was better than out even with a faulty cord. So we waited and watched. And when the cord was about to give out altogether Elliot was born by C-section on June 9, 2005. After being told that he could have trisome' 13 or 18 this seemed like good news to us. I know it beats being still born, which is what used to happen to babies like Elliot...they were stillborn with no answers for parents. With the miracles of modern medicine I feel strongly that Elliot, like Esther of old, has "come into the kingdom for such a time as this."

The first time I saw him, 8 hours after he was born, he looked like
this. As his grandmother, it was all I could do to keep my face calm
and my voice even. My daughter was watching my every move, searching me
for any sign of fear. My first thought was "How can anything so tiny
possibly survive?" But the words that came out of my mouth were
reassuring and calming as if someone else had said them. I am convinced
now that it was not me speaking but the Spirit telling my daughter and
son-in-law that their baby would be ok. I had an over whelming sense of
peace that day. It was a peace I would need over the next 10 weeks to
help my daughter cope with the NICU.

Over the next 10 weeks we
watched his every move. How much he breathed, how much he ate, how much
he weighed. All of those things went up and down and up and down. It is
hard to recall all the things that happened in the NICU but there are
some things I will never forget. I know my list is different from my
daughters list and even different from your own, so please feel free to
add to the list

 I Will Never Forget...
• the first time I saw Elliot and all of his blonde hair
• wanting to cry, but needing to be strong
• the worry on my daughters face
• how many times she asked me, "Is he going to be ok?"
•
how we waited to see him for 8 hours because...Brooke had to will
herself out of bed to be able to go to the NICU after having a C-section
• marveling at how brave my little girl was and how fast she was going to grow up
• seeing my sweet daughter hold her baby for the first time
• Elliot's wrist was so small his daddy's wedding ring was a bracelet
• being able to see right through his skin
• the first time we changed his diaper and he had no tushy
• seeing his tiny diapers and then realizing they were too big for him
• all the wires coming out of everything; hands, feet, heart, head and belly button
• his first cry - we saw him cry but no sound could come out - it was a silent cry
•
driving an hour each way to the hospital 3 times a week so my daughter
could get to her baby and praying all the way there and all the way
home that "today will be a good

  • 3
  • Sparkle (
    )
     

More Like This

Comments

Post comment as
twitter logo facebook logo
Sort: Newest | Oldest
ruttanamy
ruttanamy 5 pts

This post brought back so many memories. My son was born 3 weeks premature at 11.5lbs. You'd think that nothing would be wrong with a strapping baby like that. Well, he couldn't breathe. The blood pressure between his lungs and heart was the same as his body when it should be lower. He was put in a medicated coma, with a lot of wires coming out of him, tubes to help him feed and breathe. He also had a small hole in his heart.

It was so hard. Leaving the hospital without him. Travelling in the dead of winter every day to be with him and having a toddler at home.

Each day we were blessed that he improved, and I watched as more wires and IV meds were removed. I remember weeping the moment he opened his eyes. My mother was with me, and like you with your daughter she was my pillar. I remember her hands on my shoulders, comforting me. Telling me he'd be okay.

That was almost 3 years ago, January 17, 2006. Now, he's totally fine, the most active rambunctious little guy ever and I'm braving having a third when I told myself in those darkest moments that I wouldn't.

I'll never forget our checkup when my son was a year old. The look on the Dr. who helped fight for my son's life, the smile and pride when he told us the hole closed itself and his lungs were strong.

I always support children's hospitals. NICU nurses have my utmost respect, as do these Dr.'s that fight everyday for sick children. I can't even imagine doing that day in and day out.

Thanks for sharing your journey.

share
  • spam
  • offensive
  • disagree
  • off topic
 Like
typeamom
typeamom 5 pts

Wow! This is an amazing post. I had all three of my children in the NICU, so I guess I could break down a memory for each one. NICU time is sure hard time, and I can say with three different experiences (although two were twins, they had totally different NICU stays) that there is no such thing as an easy NICU stay. 

For my first: I remember how absolutely horrible it was to visit her on Christmas in the NICU and not be able to take her home, and have to drive away from the hospital that evening.

For my second, it would have to be the first time I could hold her and nurse her. Amazing. They never let me do it without tons of harassment for my first child, so I was pretty pushy and determined... and so glad.

For my third, it would have to be the first time I held him or the first time I saw his face. He couldn't be picked up for almost three weeks and had so many tubes in his face you couldn't really see it. I felt so disconnected.

And maybe one of the worst feelings was taking one twin home but leaving the other twin behind in the NICU. Just awful.

Thanks for this beautiful and touching post. I am certainly thankful all three are healthy (if rowdy) children today.

I am a total Type-A Mom, and the operator of Type-A Mom at http://www.typeamom.net ...

share
  • spam
  • offensive
  • disagree
  • off topic
 Like
Clamo88
Clamo88 5 pts

So Beautiful. Unfortunately the news tells us that more and more babies visit the NICU. These Nurses and Doctors are angels, they deserve far more recognition.

 Both of my babies went through the NICU - my son, when I was 19, stopped breathing in my arms at 2 days old due to a flu virus. He was born 2 weeks early but was otherwise healthy. Thank God he was in my arms when he stopped breathing. After the ambulance ride to the emergency room they made me put him down on the gurney to check him out... I couldn't believe how tiny he was. I began to cry and they escorted me out...

2 ambulance rides, 3 hospitals and 10 days later he came home. He slept with a heart monitor for months, and it was years before I stopped going into his room at night to make sure he was breathing. Many years. He is now 17. Healthy, handsome, and intelligent.

My daughter was also 2 weeks early, and ironically, exactly the same size at birth as my son. It was 10 1/2 years later. I did not make it home with her, she had trouble breathing in the delivery room. She also spent 10 days in the NICU. The nurses called her "a favorite" and I thought it was generic flattery, until I got to know her. I will never forget the first time I was able to hold her to my chest. It was a wave of the most intense emotion I have ever felt. She is almost 7 now. I still feel that emotion.

We all have unique experiences, challenges and relationships with our children. If your baby goes through the NICU, you share the beginning of their lives with professionals who literally keep them alive. It is a unique experience as a parent, and a difficult start to a young life. God Bless the Angels who guide us through it.

share
  • spam
  • offensive
  • disagree
  • off topic
 Like