Andrew was five weeks early. Thankfully, he had only a few complications. He did have some trouble breathing in the beginning, he was jaundice, and we had feeding problems for around four weeks, but we were able to deal with and solve each problem. He only spent two and a half days in the NICU, but many babies born at 35 weeks have more serious complications. And babies born earlier than that almost always spend a significant amount of time in the NICU.
I've known too many babies born prematurely. I've seen the effect that prematurity has on both the parents and the child. I've seen babies lost to prematurity. Prematurity is devastating, and no one ever thinks it will happen to them.
I can remember at around 30 weeks pregnant, I was taking a tour of the maternity floor of St. David's Hospital (which has a wonderful NICU). When we walked past the doors to the NICU, the tour guide mentioned that "the NICU is behind those doors". I vividly remember thinking, "Thank goodness, I'll never know what's back there." I had know idea that in just five weeks I would be watching my child sleep in a NICU nursery.
This is just a glimpse of what you might see in the NICU. Andrew had very few tubes compared to some of the babies that were in the NICU with him. He weighed four and a half pounds, and he was the heavyweight in his particular nursery. (Unlike many babies, he didn't have to sleep in an isolette. He was kept warm with blankets, and his body temperature was closely monitored. He got to sleep on his tummy because he had oxygen going into his nostrils, and he was hooked up to monitors. His eyes were covered because he was sensitive to the light.)
When you walk down the (long) hallway to the NICU at St. David's Hospital in Austin, there are pictures of children and adults lining the walls. These are the children that have overcome prematurity. They are the ones that fought, many for years, to get past all the challenges that come from being born weeks or even months before you are ready to enter this world.
I'm not sharing this so that you can feel sorry for us. We went through very little compared to most families who have to deal with premature birth. I'm sharing this, because so many people just aren't aware of how big of a problem prematurity is. So many don't understand how often it occurs. We often think that it happens to the people who don't take care of themselves, the ones who use drugs, who drink, who don't take their vitamins. But I can attest to the fact that it happens to those people who do everything they are supposed to. It not only happened to me, but it has happened to mothers I know personally. Great strides have been made to help premature babies, but we still need to find better ways to help these precious babies and prevent preterm births. Take a moment or two to think about these babies and their parents, and say a prayer for them and for the doctors and nurses that care for them.
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