Ajudar as famílias a navegar na Jornada da UTIN, um milagre de cada vez.

After two years of trying to have a baby that involved surgery and numerous failed IUI attempts, I was able to conceive with one round of IVF. My pregnancy was considered high risk due to the surgery; however, it was a relatively easy pregnancy.

When I was 29 weeks and 5 days, I went to a normal doctor’s appointment and my blood pressure was extremely high. I was immediately sent to L&D triage where I was admitted to the MOM unit. While on the MOM unit I was put on magnesium and our little boy was monitored closely. It was decided after a day that he needed to be born the next day because his heart rate wasn’t fluctuating enough and he had no amniotic fluid.

Our son Shawn was born at 30 weeks on January 6th weighing 2 pounds 6.8 ounces. He was born in respiratory distress but let out one cry which we were told may not happen. Shawn was quickly taken to the NICU with me only getting a passing glimpse. It would be more than 24 hours before I saw him again and when I did he was under bilirubin lights because he developed jaundice. It would be 3 days before I got to hold him. While in the NICU, Shawn went from C-Pap to low flow oxygen to breathing room air. He had a feeding tube until he learned to take a bottle. He also had episodes of bradycardia and apnea. Our hearts broke every night we left him but after 41 days weighing just 5 pounds, Shawn was able to come home.

Today he is an energetic, caring, healthy kid that has met all of his milestones. We are extremely thankful for the amazing care he received in Abington’s NICU!