Fight for Preemies! Prematurity Awareness Day

November 17 is Prematurity Awareness Day.
My baby is a preemie. I have learned over the years that while my story brings tears to MY eyes, we were so lucky & blessed from the very beginning.

My pregnancy was slightly abnormal - abnormal AFP test results, ultrasounds to check and monitor progress of baby, non-stress tests twice per week (or more) but nothing too out of the ordinary. No one knows why my little guy decided to come early.

At 6 pounds 4 ounces, many wondered if my dates were wrong. I was almost sent home because there was "no way" I could be in labor. Haha.

Nicholas had trouble breathing on his own (hence the vent.) and had not yet developed the sucking reflex. We knew pretty early on that he was a "healthy" preemie, but that we would be going home with supplemental oxygen and a heart/apnea monitor. (after we could get the little one to just EAT!)

For me, the hardest part was mourning the birth/first year that I never got. I wasn't able to nurse my baby (pumped for 6 months instead), I wasn't able to "show him off", we couldn't leave our house for 5 months (even to visit family!), "newborn" pictures were millions of NICU shots, I "got in trouble" for holding my newborn too much, our "normal" was so different. The heart/apnea monitor beeping all the time, filling up too quickly so the man had to come & download our information SO FREQUENTLY (sometimes daily), the deliveries of oxygen - those big, nasty tanks, delivering precious oxygen to my little guy.

My friend, Kara, says it so much better than I. (click here for her amazing story)

Like Kara, I think the hardest part was getting adjusted to our new "normal".

Enjoy the pics today - Nicholas as a newborn, Nicholas with Daddy in the hospital (1 1/2 to 2 weeks old at that point), Nicholas on his due date (see the sign), and Nicholas today.

We are so blessed to have such an awesome kiddo and thankful for all the medical advances that allowed us to be in this place.