To Preemie Parents

A family member recently contacted me on Facebook asking what would be good to go in a care package for a NICU family. Of course I needed their address because those babies need hats! As I was writing a letter to the parents, I decided to post it here on the blog. If there is one thing I have learned through our experience, it's that our difficulties are an opportunity for us to help others. And, lots of people read our blog-not just people we know (okay, that's two things!) Anyhow, here are the things we learned and want to convey to other preemie parents or parents of NICU babies. If you know of someone in this situation, please message me because I would love to pray for them and send them a card!
*I do not know why the type is giant....but it will not let me fix it. Sadness.
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We know the road you are traveling well and wanted to offer some encouragement and prayers!

Our daughters were born at 28 weeks, 1 day (that extra day is important!). We knew from around 12 weeks that two of our babies would not survive and that we were going to have a difficult pregnancy. God provided us with lots of peace, a strong Christian family, and an opportunity to strengthen our faith.

Our precious Hannah Kate weighed 1040 grams (around 2 pounds 4 ounces) and is an incredible gift from God! We were extremely blessed by her great health. She had several of the normal preemie issues (lots of “spells” where she stopped breathing, a few scares with her belly, anemia, and the slowly developing retinas and scary eye exams), but she didn’t have any “major” problems. Today, she is a very healthy, chubby!, smiley, 7 month old!

We know what it’s like to spend day after day in the NICU watching your tiny baby hooked up to a jumble of wires. The best advice we were given was from my OB the day after I delivered. She said it’s very easy to fall into an hour by hour mindset—step back and watch the whole picture. There are definitely good days and bad days. Rejoice in the advances and breathe deeply during the setbacks.

Hannah Kate was in the NICU for 61 days. She went home 3 weeks before her due date, which was a huge accomplishment in our eyes! It may sound crazy, but there were many fun times for us in the NICU. We developed a great relationship with some of our nurses and still communicate with them today (some on a daily basis). I think that having a preemie is an incredible opportunity to see what wonderful things God does daily—seeing how babies grow and develop outside of the womb, when most people do not have that opportunity. He truly is amazing!

We will continue to pray for your babies as well as you both. This is a great opportunity for you to grow spiritually and as a couple!

PLEASE feel free to contact us if you ever want to talk, have questions, or need anything!

Prayerfully,

Wesley, Denise, and Hannah Kate

(my email address)

www.arrowsinourhand.blogspot.com (our family blog-with lots of stories and pictures from our time in the NICU) Be sure you take LOTS of pictures! It is amazing how you forget just how small your babies were! A nurse suggested taking pictures of Hannah Kate with Wesley’s wedding ring one day, and I’m so glad we did. I have done this every month and it’s pretty amazing to see the transformation!

PS Here are a couple of websites that you might enjoy:

http://www.perfectlypreemie.com/catalog/ (Someone got Hannah Kate some clothes from here that were perfect for the NICU)

http://www.itsapreemiething.com (We didn’t know about this until Hannah Kate was already chubby! I love the onesie that says, “Do I look fat in this yet?”)