Browsing all posts in June, 2010.

When One Twin Goes Home First

January 27, 2009 was the day that we had been anticipating for ten long weeks.  One of our babies was finally coming home!  We were so excited.  I had finally had my baby shower that weekend and had spent all day Monday organizing the nursery and putting the pack and play together for Lindsay’s homecoming. [...]

Support Groups

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently returned to visit the NICU where my preemie lived for over three months.  During my visit I got in contact again with the Parent to Parent organization they had there to provide support for all of the parents in the unit.  It was brought to my [...]

Having Faith is a Special Need

Something many preemie parent’s have to deal with is the chance of long lasting effects, such as mental disabilities. Although Drake’s reasons were different than most preemies, we too were faced with the chances of having a child with special needs. During my pregnancy I had some hormones come back high, putting me in a [...]

Bili Lights

Most parents have heard of jaundice – when bilirubin levels are high and it causes a yellowing of the skin.  Doctors will have parents put their babies in the sunlight, perhaps have them nap under a sunny window.  For most full term babies a little sunlight will fix the problem. Many preemie babies are at [...]

Pumping: Low Milk Supply

In February, Afton wrote a terrific post about her pumping experience called “Nessie the Milk Cow.”  Here’s an excerpt: One day I left the parent’s lounge balancing milk bottles carefully on my way to the freezer when I saw another mother leaving a pumping area with only one little bottle in her hand – and [...]

The Many Perks of Having a Preemie

In the past two years, I have realized that having a child prematurely (or in our case, extremely prematurely) actually has some advantages. We don’t fear “normal” childhood emergencies (e.g. broken arm or stitches) like other parents do.  Let’s face it—after dealing with Intraventricular Hemmorhage, Necrotizing Enterocolitis, Respiratory Distress, Retinopathy of Prematurity, and/or Patent Ductus [...]

Bedrest

In my last post, I mentioned that I was on hospitalized bedrest for 7 weeks.  I am often asked how I survived laying in a hospital room for that long.  Here are some things that I did to pass the time: Handheld Yahtzee or Any other Handheld Game:  This saved me!  I cannot tell you [...]

Keagan and Aspiration

This story was thoughtfully shared by one of our readers. “My beautiful daughter was born on 9/25/09 at 28 weeks.  Her delivery only lasted about 25 minutes, leaving both her father and I completely stunned.  Keagan did fabulously well in the beginning; she was on room air, gaining weight consistently, and responding to stimulus around [...]