September is Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Awareness month. It's also almost a full year since an adventure, unlike any other, began... My son, Oliver, was born at 26 weeks. Weighing in at 1lb 10oz and just 13 inches long. A 'micro-preemie'. In 'honor' of NICU awareness month, I have written some thoughts that I felt would have helped me … [Read more...]
My 165 Day NICU Journey with a Preemie
Oct 15, 2014. I was 26 weeks, 6 days pregnant and was literally strapped down to a hospital bed being monitored 24/7 with a fetal monitor. My head was pounding. My blood pressure was being taken every 15 minutes. Rounds were starting and the top dog and all of the other Drs came in surrounding my bed. Top dog looked a bit like Billy Bob Thorton … [Read more...]
Life in the NICU: 3 Months Later
Today, January 15th was my due date. On October 15th I had to have an emergency c-section due to severe pre-eclampsia. When the doctors told me they had to take the baby out, one of them said we would probably hear the cry of a healthy, albeit small, little boy. Unfortunately he was wrong about that. There was no cry. He was too little and … [Read more...]
Baby Oliver: Almost 7 weeks!
Many of you have asked about Oliver so I am doing a quick update on what is happening. First, I cannot believe it is already 7 weeks on Wednesday. Crazy. As I mentioned in earlier posts, the NICU is a roller coaster. Definitely not a fun one, very much worth it but it can wear you down for sure. For those of you that are new here on … [Read more...]
Baby Oliver: One Month Already!
Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Things have been crazy. I am sure you can imagine, heading to the hospital 2-3 times a day, taking care of a 6 and 8 year old, the craziness of the holidays on the blog, and and and... It hasn't been easy to keep up! I am hoping to get some help this week on getting the Holiday Gift Guide up for you guys! I have … [Read more...]
World Prematurity Day is November 17, Help Spread Awareness #PreemieProtection
I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for MedImmune. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation. Did you know that November 17th is World Prematurity Day? I had no idea and until this year I probably could have … [Read more...]
Baby Oliver: 3 Weeks Old
3 weeks down! Oliver is 3 weeks as of 11:44 this morning. I told you in the last update that he had been moved onto the Hudson prongs (cpap) oxygen. He did not do well on this unfortunately. He was on it for about 36 hours and kept having to be bumped way up on the oxygen percentage and was having a lot of bradies (heart rate drops). So … [Read more...]
Baby Oliver: Two Weeks, 4 days
Sorry I haven't updated the last couple days! Between Halloween with the older kiddos, everything that I am trying to get done on the blog and visits to the NICU with Oliver, I have been busy as I am sure you can imagine. As always, thank you for the thoughts and prayers... they ARE working. Oliver is doing great right now. "Boring" but as I … [Read more...]
Baby Oliver: One Week, 5 Days; I Held him Today!
It has been a couple of days since my last update, lots of little things and progress! The last few days have had their ups and downs. Sunday was a rough day as it turned out that one of the blood cultures that had been drawn earlier in the week had one that all of a sudden showed up as positive for infection. He has been on antibiotics for the … [Read more...]
Baby Oliver: One Week + 2 Days
Quick update tonight, things have been hectic the last two days, thankfully NOT because of Oliver. I went in for a "quick" incision and blood pressure check yesterday morning, only to find that my blood pressure had gone back up high. They actually wanted to admit me again but I fought tooth and nail and ended up getting blood pressure … [Read more...]