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

Patrick was born full term at 39 weeks after a healthy pregnancy. During his birth, the cord wrapped around his head and neck, and sent him into distress due to lack of oxygen. He inhaled meconium and was delivered unresponsive. He was quickly resuscitated and placed on a ventilator. Due to the lack of oxygen during birth, he was diagnosed with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE).

Patrick spent 7 days in the NICU and underwent cooling therapy, which would help to prevent any further brain damage than what may have already been caused at birth. His doctors wanted to monitor for seizures and did a couple of EEG’s that week, and some MRI’s of his brain as well. We were extremely lucky that Patrick thrived during his time in the NICU and was able to come home in such a short amount of time. He followed up with Neurology at CHOP for 18 months and got to ‘graduate’ early because of how well he was doing!

After we left the NICU, I experienced some PTSD and postpartum anxiety. I remembered the care package that we had received from Today Is a Good Day during our stay and wanted to give back. Mike and I both felt we could never do enough to thank all those who helped us during Patrick’s NICU stay, so giving back through volunteering through Today Is a Good Day was perfect! Meeting other NICU parents helped me to work through everything I was going through after our birth experience.

Today, Patrick is a happy and healthy almost-3 year old boy! He became a big brother this past year and is so kind and loving. He loves Disney movies, singing the Eagles fight song, and saying “Go Birds!” whenever he can. He loves reading books with us and playing outside. We are so proud of how far he’s come and can’t wait to watch all he achieves in life