In October 2017 my husband and I got married after being together for 5 years. We quickly wanted to start our own family, and on Christmas Eve morning, I found out I was pregnant and due August 30, 2018! It was very exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. I was very strict to follow all of the guidelines to having a healthy pregnancy until one morning in May (over 3 months before my due date) I had to go to Labor and Delivery at the hospital. I was told I was going to spend the next 9 weeks there or until I had my baby, whichever came first. I spent 17 days laying in a hospital bed before I had my first child, Addie who was born at 2 lbs. 5 oz and only 13.3 inches long. Next, came the long part of the journey, the NICU stay.

Since Addie was 13 weeks premature, she was labeled a "micro-preemie" who obviously had very immature organs. She wasn't able to breathe on her own and was intubated for her first 3 months of life, and on some type of oxygen for her first 5 months. She had 6 different types of oxygen machines including an oscillator, conventional ventilator, NIP-V, C-PAP, high flow and low flow nasal cannulas. She also had countless blood transfusions, blood sugar checks, was intentionally paralyzed for 4 days and had laser eye surgery in both of her eyes at 3 months old. She had to learn things typical babies are born knowing, such as keeping her body temperature up and how to eat.  After 123 long days our first born child was finally discharged from the NICU and able to come home with us, however she did come home still using oxygen and we had about 10 tanks delivered to our house. Although it was a long, scary, and draining experience, I wouldn't change one second of it because I learned so much about babies, medical information, and myself throughout the process. There are great resources out there to help anyone who has to experience a sick baby. One of the resources I used, was the Graham's Foundation. They have a wonderful app for your phone that helps you track all of the moments during a NICU journey.