#30DaysofHope - Alexis

"At 31 weeks pregnant, I was admitted to University Women’s Hospital and diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia.

My body and the placenta I had grown for the pregnancy were at war with one another. My body was saying "No, no, no!" to sharing resources with a foreign object (my baby) and my placenta were saying "Yes, yes, yes!" and demanding more resources by raising my blood pressure to *force* the delivery of blood to her.

For a week, doctors tried to get it under control with medications. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was on 3 blood pressure medications - taking 1600 MGs of blood pressure medication every 3 hours.

One week later, at exactly 32 weeks pregnancy, I had an emergency C - Section. Emersyn Josephine entered this world May 9, 2022 at 5:24 PM weighing 3 lbs 10 oz, 15 1/2 inches long.

Due to Emersyn being born early, she had apneas (stops breathing for a short period of time), bradycardia (slower than normal hearth rhythm - dropping below 100 beats per minute), and a Grade 2 brain bleed, on a feeding tube, as well as having difficulty breathing due to her nasal passages being extremely small causing her to produce mucus but the mucus having no where to go causing her to be on oxygen on and off, throughout our stay.

Emersyn came early because it was unsafe to stay inside me. It was unsafe for her and it was unsafe for me. Emersyn came early because doctors saved us from a horrible situation before it got worse (seizure, stroke, death). Emersyn came early and has thrived, not because she was ready, but because a team of talented people helped her get ready for six weeks in the NICU.

After 42, long, exhausting days - Emersyn was discharged from the only place she ever knew to call “home” - Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital in Downtown Cleveland.

Emersyn is now 4 months old, weighs roughly 9 pounds, and is 19 inches long. She isn’t on any support for her breathing, eats on her own (besides for some reflux but that comes with prematurity).

Becoming a NICU Parent is something nobody ever wants to experience, but my husband and I learned quickly a new world in the NICU, and that in the end it is an honor to be one because we got to experience miracles every single day."- NICU Mom, Alexis