#30DaysofHope - Jessica

My son, Riley, was born at 29 weeks, two days. I was admitted to antepartum at 25 weeks for reduced umbilical flow, which resulted in significant growth restriction. When my 29 week growth scan showed my son hadn’t grown at all in two weeks, the doctors decided it was ‘time for a meet and greet”. My son weighed 1lb, 14oz at birth and he wasn’t breathing when he was born,. It took his team of doctors six minutes to get him intubated, and I wasn’t able to hold him until he was 8 days old.

In his first couple weeks in the NICU, Riley was critical. He had multiple blood transfusions, a collapsed lung, lots of desats and bradys, and he relied on a ventilator to keep him alive. He spent 69 long days in the NICU and came home on oxygen. Today, he’s almost 5 and is doing amazing.

I will be forever grateful to all the nurses, doctors, therapists, and specialists who worked together to help him and I get through those stressful critical days and make it home.