30 Days of Brave | Atlas

“My first pregnancy came after a miscarriage and 2.5 years of fertility treatments so when we found out we were expecting again at only 10 months postpartum we were shocked and so excited. That excitement quickly turned to fear and anxiety as multiple complications with the baby arose early on and then eventually also turned out to have IUGR. I was admitted to the hospital for 8 days at 31 weeks due to threatened preterm labour. I was home for only a few days when I suddenly developed severe abdominal pain that turned out to be preeclampsia and HELLP. I was induced at 34 weeks, during labour baby's heart rate dropped and all of a sudden there were upwards of 15 people in the room all yelling for me to push. It was terrifying. Baby boy came out crying and healthy but was still whisked off to the NICU for monitoring. He spent 50 long days in the NICU and we were finally discharged home. Unfortunately, we were readmitted with failure to thrive and then he went into respiratory distress. We were transferred to a children's hospital in a bigger city where a bunch of tests were run but no reason was found for his respiratory distress. He developed sepsis/bacteremia while at the children's hospital and was treated with antibiotics via a PICC line. Luckily we were able to be transferred back to our home hospital to complete treatment and eventually discharged home. After a couple more admissions, he has been home for almost 3 months and is thriving despite a diagnosis of Pierre Robin Sequence. He is over 15 pounds now which is crazy to think back on being only 3 pounds at birth!

This has been one of the hardest journeys but it has been so comforting being able to connect with so many different people who have been in similar situations. The community of NICU parents is so welcoming and understanding and I am so glad to have met the people I have. Not to mention the nurses, OTs, PTs, RRTs, SLPs, and doctors are incredible.

Bravery means being terrified but doing it anyways!” NICU Mama, Jenna