Parents of Preemies Day

Tomorrow, March 10th, is Parents of Preemies Day. It's a day to recognize the courage and commitment of those parents who deal with their precious babies being born too early as well as to make the public aware of the hardship, sacrifices, struggles and joys that parents of these little ones face.

Premature babies are defined as babies born before 37 weeks. So that makes me the mother of three preemie babies - Lucy was born at 35 weeks and the boys at 34 weeks. Thankfully, my little ones faced minimal issues from their early births - Lucy was in the hospital for a few extra days and while the boys were in the NICU, it was a short stay (looking back now) and they only needed minimal interventions. Other than meeting milestones around their due date age rather than developmental age, Lucy, Charlie, and Alex are happy, healthy, well-adjusted little ones. I am so grateful for the doctors and nurses and all the NICU staff at Mission Memorial hospital and the care that was shown to our precious babies.

There are many parents of preemies who have experienced much more challenging journeys than we ever did. There are parents whose babies undergo more surgery in the first part of their little lives than most of us ever do. Some parents don't have the opportunity to touch or hold their little one for weeks. Some parents have babies who just were born to early and can't survive. Some parents spend their days wondering if their child will make it until tomorrow. When you talk to parents who have been through life in the NICU, so many will say that it feels like a constant journey of two steps forward and one step back. One particular story comes to my mind. . .  The boys had several "neighbors" in their time in the NICU. One little boy across from Charlie and Alex had been in the NICU for five months. His parents had been told that they could finally take him home on the same day that our boys were being discharged. The morning he was supposed to go, the doctor decided that another surgery was going to be necessary for his eyes ( I don't know all the details) and so he was going to have to stay a little longer. As much joy as I felt that day bringing my sweet babies home where they belong, my heart broke for this mother who had been waiting for so long only to be told she had to wait longer.Those 25 days for me were so long and exhausting and stressful. . . and my babies never had any life-threatening conditions. I cannot imagine going through that experience of seeing your child in the hospital for five months - never being able to put him in his own crib at home, never falling asleep on the couch with him asleep in your arms, constantly traveling back and forth between the outside world and the NICU - and going from the joy of taking your child home to having it taken away, even if only for a little while.

So in honor of Parents of Preemies Day, please take a moment to remember those moms and dads and grandparents of Preemies.  And say a prayer for the NICU doctors and nurses who not only take care of these preemies day in and day out, but who also put parents at ease as they leave their babies in the care of someone else. If you know of someone who has a baby in the NICU, take them a meal, offer to come sit with their other children while they visit the hospital, give them a hug and let them know you care.

 I am so proud to be a parent of my three preemies. They may have entered this world as tiny little things, but what a huge impact their lives are going to make. They have most certainly changed mine.

Lucy - 35 weeks, 5 lbs 6oz.

Charlie - 34 weeks, 4 lbs 3 oz.

Alex - 34 weeks, 3 lbs 11 oz

All 3 - Feb. 2013