This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 4:50 pm and is filed under The Preemie Adventure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
We are extremely excited to kick off a new ongoing series at The Playpen entitled The Preemie Adventure! This personal and inspirational series is a collection of real-life stories from real-life parents that deals with the emotional roller coaster associated with pre-term birth. The Preemie Adventure is designed to feature up close and personal stories, advice and information regarding prematurity, along with photos of preemies, then and now. Aline and I drew a great deal of inspiration from the photos along the walls of the NICU during our daughter’s stay there, and we have committed ourselves to providing support and encouragement to parents who are going through the same experience now.
Our first story comes from Jennifer, who writes a terrific blog called Blessings From Above.
Jennifer is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, and has agreed to share the amazing story of her son, Kyle’s, whirlwind premature birth. Please join me in thanking Jennifer for her honest and uplifting submission, and be sure to stop by her site and drop her a comment. Thanks, Jennifer!
Kyle’s Story
During a family vacation to Disney World, I was diagnosed with Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membranes (PPROM)…which is a fancy way of saying that my water broke VERY early. I was 22 weeks pregnant and was told that there was very little chance that the baby would survive.
We were devastated as they went over the statistics. My due date was still 121 days away. We had a 90% chance that the baby would die in the delivery room. If he beat the odds and survived, it would almost surely be with severe disabilities and a very poor quality of life. We were even offered medication to speed up the “inevitable”.
Thankfully, I lasted almost two weeks on bed-rest, which gave the baby some much needed time to develop further. At 24 weeks and 5 days, Kyle was born weighing 1 pound 6 ounces. Again we were warned that his chances of surviving, let alone leading a quality life, were not good.
We were devastated when we saw how small he was. And it was not a tiny, cute little baby kind of small. He obviously was very sick. Despite all the problems on the inside - things like his lungs and heart not being developed - we were struck by how different he looked on the outside. One of his eyes was still fused shut. His skin was transparent and covered with hair. Even his ear lobes had not yet developed cartilage and just hung there.
You will hear many parents of preemie’s state that their NICU stay was a rollercoaster ride and this description is so true.
During Kyle’s 119 days in Florida Hospital South’s NICU, while he had some good days, he also endured heart surgery, 69 days on life support/ventilator, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), anemia, bilateral hernias, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD), Chronic Lung Disease, bilateral renal calculi (small kidney stones), jaundice, aspirations, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, 3 bouts with pneumonia, hyperglycemia, 11 blood transfusions, high blood pressure, numerous infections and Stage 3 Retinopathy of Prematurity requiring Eye Surgery.
Thanks to many answered prayers, today Kyle is a happy and healthy 18 month old (14 months adjusted age). He is the happiest baby and loves to be the center of attention. He is close to walking on his own and is adding new words to his vocabulary weekly.
If there is one remnant of Kyle’s extreme prematurity, it is the slow rate in which he has grown. Although it is finally starting to get better, since the day we left the hospital we have received comments on Kyle’s small size. An automatic question of strangers seems to be, “How old is your baby?” When he weighed 7 pounds and I would answer that he is six months old, people would look at me like I am crazy. Kyle is now almost 19 pounds, which considering his start in life, is amazing to me. Still, I feel like I always have to defend his small size and am looking forward to the day that he is actually on the growth chart!
We had a great appreciation for Kyle even before his prematurity because I had such a difficult time getting pregnant (he is an IVF baby), so even his conception was nothing short of miraculous to us. But everything now is even more precious to us and we take nothing for granted. We have learned some valuable lessons through this trial and we’ll never be the same. When I look at Kyle now, it is hard for me to imagine that he once weighed just 18 ounces. I am amazed by the accomplishments he has made, he truly is our miracle baby. “This is the Lord’s doing, it is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:23
If you would like to submit your preemie stories and photos for inclusion in The Preemie Adventure, drop us a comment, or email us at matt@redsparks.com.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:22 am
What an amazing story! Kyle looks awesome - congratulations! I can’t imagine going through as much as you guys did for as long as you did, but based on our experience, when you look back on things it just makes you appreciate things that much more. You guys are truly blessed!
Jeremy (Discovering Dad)s last blog post..Do You Role Model Integrity for Your Kids?
September 4th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
You are truly blessed and the Lord’s favor is upon that beautiful boy! God bless you and your family!! I just had a son (29 weeks) and am enduring the NICU rollercoaster ride. I would like to get off! but he is hanging in there thanks to God and prayers. It is nice to see and hear success stories of other preemies. Thank you.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Wonderful story, Matt & Aline! Great idea, too, to provide a series of stories of other preemies.
For this and for your many other entertaining posts, I have given you an award. Go over to my site and pick it up at your convenience.
And, Kyle is inspiringly beautiful!
September 8th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Gulp. I’m so glad this story had a happy ending! I had two preemies…one at 29 weeks and one at 33 weeks. We still have a lot of struggles, and still face more surgeries, but we are so blessed.
Momo Falis last blog post..Special, Indeed
September 11th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
What a wonderful story. It is truly amazing how strong the smallest of babies are.
September 11th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
What a great story! Thanks for posting it.
September 15th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Congratulations and thank God that you stuck it through. My full term baby was healthy and little and didn’t reach 20 lbs till she was 2. She is 8 and still a pipsqueak. And we love her that way.
Weaselmommas last blog post..Let Us Never Forget