September is NICU Awareness Month :: Where Are They Now?
September is designated as Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Awareness Month, a campaign to increase awareness and support for the premature and medically fragile newborns who require intensive care, the dedicated medical staff who care for them, and their resilient families.
Our daughter is a NICU Princess Warrior that was born at 33 weeks 4 days, weighing 4 pounds 6 ounces and 16.5 inches long. Born to a first time mom at the age of 49, and a first time dad at the age of 46, we were considered advanced maternal age (multigravida) and we were seeing a high risk doctor. There was already a C-section scheduled due to a myomectomy 5 years prior. But, our princess was ready to come and show the world how amazing she truly is.
We spent a total of 2 weeks and 2 days in the NICU. There was actually nothing “wrong” with her; she was just early, tiny and jaundiced for 2.5 days. Other than that, she was perfect. The day that she would come home to us was Mother’s Day 2018. This is one of the most precious memories a first time mom could possibly have: getting to bring home a very much prayed for, very much planned for, and very much wanted child on her very first Mother’s Day.
Since graduating the NICU, this miracle child has hit the floor running and has not stopped.
Surpassing milestone after milestone, here we are 7 years later. We are so blessed to call her our NICU Princess Warrior. She is now in 2nd grade, is in French Immersion and is trilingual – being that I speaks English, her dad speaks Spanish, and is learning French in her elementary school. Over the course of the past 3 years, from PreK to present, she has been on the Principal’s List, with an average of 3.7 to 4.0 – with all A’s and a B here and there.
She also has a love for soccer, which she started playing at 3 years old. She has been playing steady the past 4 years and is now in her 9th season.
We have been truly blessed to have such a healthy, beautiful, intelligent, strong, and fierce blessing from GOD. I wanted to share her story of her beginning and her present while also looking forward to sharing what the future holds for a child that started so early and tiny and has become such a incredible story of strength and resilience.
And it is with such pleasure and gratitude that I thank Jesus first and foremost for our blessing, as well as the doctors, nurses, and staff at one of the most beloved hospital in my book: Our Lady of the Lords Women and Children’s of Lafayette, Louisiana.
