Our NICU Story
Our first NICU story begins March 26, 2018.
I was pregnant with my first daughter and had just reached 37 weeks. That morning I wasn’t feeling any kicking or movement. I happened to not go to work that day, so I figured I’d call my doctor and just to make sure everything was okay. Since it was my first pregnancy, I was thinking it could be a possible sign of going into labor. Especially because at that point I was considered to be full-term. Luckily, my husband came with me to that doctor’s appointment. The doctor did some tests and then she left the room for a while. My husband was starting to get worried, but I didn’t think much of it. When she came back into the room, she told us I had to go to the hospital for an emergency C-section. After that, everything happened so fast. The surgery room was all prepped and ready for me by the time we arrived at the hospital, and I was rushed right in. I didn’t even have time to process what was happening or that I was about to have a baby.
At 3:13pm my daughter Penelope was born and taken to the NICU right away.
My husband went to be with her, while I went to the recovery room alone. At this point I still didn’t know what happened or what was going on. I had to wait 7 hours before I regained movement in my legs from surgery, and was able to get in a wheelchair to go to the NICU. That’s when I was finally able to hold Penelope for the first time. Later on, I found out from the doctors that I had placenta abruption, which is when the flow of the oxygen and vital nutrients had been cut off to the womb. There is a 1 in 100 chance of this complication occurring. I remember meeting Penelope’s NICU doctor, Dr. Echezona Maduekwe, for the first time and he told me that typically there would be bleeding or pain to indicate complications. The fact that I didn’t have any symptoms, and decided to go to the doctor at the exact moment on a gut feeling, truly makes me view Penelope’s birth as a miracle.
Penelope spent 10 days in the NICU.
Every day was filled with testing and seeing different doctors. She was seen by almost every doctor– Neurologist, Cardiologist, Gastroenterologist, Hematologist, Physical Therapist, and Speech Therapist. Even after those 10 days, Penelope’s NICU journey was far from over. We had to follow up with each specialist and the NICU high-risk clinic every 3 months, until she was two years old. By that point all major health concerns were gone, but she was having some developmental delays. Penelope was ultimately diagnosed with autism. I wanted to include Penelope’s Autism diagnosis as a part of her NICU story because without the additional support and follow up from her NICU doctors, her signs of autism may not have been picked up as early on. The NICU was also the reason I learned about early intervention resources, and was able to start Penelope in PT, OT, and Speech therapy from such a young age. I believe this was key to her success of where she is today.
After having such a traumatic experience, I had concerns about becoming pregnant again.
Even though I always wanted to be a mom of a big family, I was now considering the reality of the only having one child for the first time. I waited a few years, and talked a lot with my doctors. They told me my second pregnancy would be considered high risk, but that I would have more frequent checkups and more extensive testing. My husband and I considered the risks, but ultimately decided to have another baby. We soon found out we were having another girl! This pregnancy for the most part was smooth, until my water broke in the middle of the night at 34 weeks. After some testing the doctors assured me, I was stable and my baby was fine. After a few hours of monitoring, I was eventually able to deliver again via C-section, and welcomed my second daughter Sydney on January 8, 2022. She was born 6 weeks premature, but thankfully with no major health concerns. She needed to be on a feeding tube for the majority of her time in the NICU, while we watched for her to grow and be able to feed on her own. Since this was our second experience having a baby in the NICU and having a few of the same doctors and nurses from when Penelope was born 4 years prior, we felt comfort knowing we were in good hands. Sydney spent a total of 14 days in the NICU and I’m grateful to report has been happily thriving since the day she came home!