Comments:
My fourth son Tristan was born two months prematurely and weighed 4lbs 2oz and my only premature delivery. Tristan is now 15 months old and weighs 24lbs. And healthy

Comments:
Let's just say having a preemie is one of the most difficult thing to deal with. It is very scary and heartbreaking to see such a fragile life lay helpless and you can't do anything for them! I had my Addy at 25 weeks on Dec. 11th, 2007 but wasn't due till March. She was 1lb. 15oz. ; 12 1/2in and dropped to 1lb. 8oz. after just 2 days. It was about a month before I could hold her for the first time. She had a PDA ligation at 6 days old and pneumonia a couple weeks after christmas. She came down with MRSA in february and ended up on the vent for about 2 1/2 months total. She had feeding issues since she was so early and she has a cleft lip/palate. She narrowly missed a g-tube and trach and was held back a couple weeks from coming home from a failed swallow study(they said she was aspirating milk into her lungs). Thanks god she had no brain bleeds and no ROP. She came home April 4th after 116 long days on the NICU. She is now 7 months old weighing 13lb. 24in. long and you would never be able to tell she was preemie for her adjusted age. She is still on 30cal/oz. formula but i'm hoping that will come down soon. She has a developmental appointment coming this week to see how she is doing but from what I can tell she is right on schedule if not a little ahead strength-wise. If I could give any advise for those in the NICU I would say be as involved as possible! Ask what you can do for your child! Even if it's only weighing their diapers. The more you do the more comfortable you will get. Take as many pictures as possible! They grow very quickly and you will wish you had more pictures of those first few weeks. Use items next to them as a reference of how big they are. Coke bottles, beanie babies, etc. I put my size 6 ring on my daughters arm and it went all the way up to her shoulder. You will want these pictures to look back on. If anyone ever wants to talk i'm here. I have two sites if you would like to see Addy. cafemom.com/home/lilma0308 and myspace.com/lilsweetie785 I have blogs, pictures, and videos

Comments:
My daughter was born at 23 weeks, weighing 1 lb 12 oz. She is now 11, the tallest in her class, and extremely athletic and outgoing. She's the youngest member of a ballet company, dances 6 days a week and loves to be on stage for the performances they put on all around the state. She's also #1 on the cross-country team (so much for breathing problems - lol) A straight A student and a "natural leader" according to her teacher. My husband and I did "Kangaroo care" or skin-to-skin contact with her beginning almost immediately after birth -- we think that helped ALL of us immensely. Even though hospital policy was that skin-to-skin couldn't be done until she was off the vent, I begged the nurse, who in turn begged the doctor to allow us to do it while she was on the vent as "an experiment." Starting at 3 days old, my husband and I both did it daily -- for as many hours as they would allow...

Comments:
My wife had to deliver our little boy early due to complications with her pregnancy. Little Wyatt is 1 lb 1 oz. 26 wks 3 days. He is 15 days old and hanging in there. His lungs are giving him trouble, but we hope things turn for the better in the coming weeks. My wife was able to hold him for the first time today. This website gives me hope that Wyatt will pull through this.

Comments:
My daughter Grace was born at 28 weeks weighing 2 pds and 5 ounces due to my having HELLP syndrome and severe preclampsia. She's now 8 months old and 15.5 pounds. She is doing great-- healthy and such a happy baby. It is hard to believe our little girl was once the size of a coffee cup! For all of you who are just starting your NICU experience it is the toughest time you will ever go through-- especially having to leave your baby every night to go home. But a year from now you will look back and feel so blessed to have come through it all and to look at your beautiful miracle baby.