I remember the NICU, too
May 28th, 2008 at 05:07pm Deborah Austin
I’ve had the good fortune to meet Joshua and Kalie Kuhl, who have quite a story to tell about their identical triplet boys Trevin, Gavin and Brodin.Â
And it brings back some very personal memories. I’ve had my own experience with a baby in a neonatal intensive care unit.
The Kuhl babies will be in Rockford Memorial Hospital’s NICU for weeks. My baby was only in the NICU for eight days, at Lee Memorial Hospital’s HealthPark in Fort Myers, Florida. She was full-term and healthy when born, a normal pregnancy. But in her first day of life she was diagnosed with a potentially fatal infection, e.coli sepsis.Â
I will be eternally grateful to the pediatrician who sensed something was wrong with this newborn and ordered the blood tests that diagnosed her. She got onto antibiotics right away. But it was quite a shock to have my baby taken from my arms in the birthing unit. Before I knew it she was behind glass, surrounded by tiny monitors. They even did a spinal tap on her when she was one day old, to make sure the infection hadn’t caused meningitis.
She’s 15 years old now. But I’ll never forget that first day when well-wishers came to visit and found me with eyes swollen by crying with worry and shock. I’ll never forget the days and nights spent living at the hospital after I was released and she was not. I went in to visit her every chance I got. Fortunately the hospital building was full of nooks and crannies with couches where I could curl up and nap in between visits. The cafeteria food was even pretty good.
Those eight days seemed like an eternity. I can’t imagine weeks or months. I am grateful that Kalie and Joshua are willing to share their story with us. I’ve already heard from others who read about the Kuhls’ experience and know themselves what it means to live in the four walls of the NICU.
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2 Comments Add your own
1. Katie Morgan | May 29th, 2008 at 7:55 am
What a true blessing. My nephew was originally a twin. Around December of 1998, my sister-in-law started having some problems. They had found out the one twin was no longer breathing, instead of aborting the one, because the other would follow, they started her on the drugs to speed up his development, in case it happened on it’s own. About a month later, she started going into labor, she was admitted into RMH and they gave her the drugs to stop the labor, but she had to stay, after about a week, they came out on their own, the deceased baby first and my other nephew shortly there after. She was about 10-12 weeks early. The living baby only weighed 2lbs 6oz and was quickly taken away to be checked out. He spent about up to his due date in the hospital in the NICU. When he came home, he only had the Apnea monitor. He was in the incubator and couldn’t be held for a couple weeks, but I got to be there the 1st time they got to take him out and got to snap their first family photo. To this day it means so much to have been able to share that moment with them. He is now a healthy active boy, there is no holding him back. You definately don’t like to hear the stories of the ones that don’t make it, but there are some happy endings. Again, nurses and Dr’s are a true blessing when it comes to trying to save a life and give a baby the chance at life. I tell ya, those are some wonderful people. Thanks for letting me share our story.
2. Deborah Austin | May 29th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Thank you, Katie! I think the more people share their NICU stories, the more we realize we’re not alone.
As fate would have it, my NICU baby (who was my second child) grew up to be especially spirited, strong-willed and sometimes downright ornery! I sometimes remind myself to be grateful and consider the alternative.
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