Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Imagine

November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis of premature birth. Here is my blog today in honor of being a preemie Mom....

Imagine being taken out of work 19 days after finding out you are pregnant because the doctors can't get your blood pressure under control.

Imagine finishing your first trimester and being told by your doctor that you will have a preemie just not sure how early.

Imagine finding out the sex of your baby and being thankful because you have read statistically preemie girls develop faster than boys.

Imagine being told by your doctor that getting to 34 weeks is great, 32 weeks is good, 30 weeks is okay and anything before you need to pray.

Imagine being told that your baby has an 85% of survival.

Imagine being told your baby won't cry when born.

Imagine hearing that baby cry and believing everything you have been told was wrong.

Imagine being scared to ask to hold your baby because mentally you can't handle the possibility of a no so you wait patiently 7 days for a nurse to offer the opportunity.

Imagine watching a machine help your baby survive everyday for 33 days because she can't breathe on her own.

Imagine every time your phone rang, your heart drops and you get choked up because it could be life or death.

Imagine having a baby but going home without one.

Imagine having to go back to work before your baby even gets out of the hospital.

Imagine having to plea with your baby that if she can hold on you will make all her dreams come true.

Imagine wanting to show off your proudest accomplishment and not being able to because her immune system could not handle it.

Imagine waiting till you reached your car for the tears to fall because your baby needs you to keep it together for them.

Imagine thinking that life will be normal once your baby is home to find out this was just the beginning of the journey.

Imagine having a micro preemie.

Can you imagine?

3 comments:

  1. My blessings to you, I had a preemie and we were not in the NICU long, but I know very much what it is like to leave the hospital without your baby and to have that fear. I can imagine that your pain and fear was very deep and I thank you for sharing your experience here. *hugs*

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  2. Barb: Thank you so much for your emotional and heartfelt post about being the mother of a preemie. On behalf of the March of Dimes, thank you for helping us tell everyone about the problem of prematurity. And, of course, thank you for joining us for March for Babies.

    Imagine a day when no baby is ever born prematurely. With your help, we can make that happen.

    Pam
    March of Dimes

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  3. Jason here from BloggersUnite. Thanks for being part of the BloggersUnite event, sharing your story and helping to raise awareness for the March of Dimes and all they do.

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