preemies
Mamas on Bedrest: For Prematurity Awareness Day, A Talk with “Sweetie’s Mama”
November 18th, 2011On Twitter she’s known as @Sweetiesmama, but Charisse Mora Medina is so much more! Mama, wife and preemie activist, Mora Medina has gained a wealth of knowledge in learning to care for “Sweetie”. From her intuitive knowing that “Sweetie” was coming, to his early birth and subsequent NICU stay, Mora Medina has traveled and maneuvered a multitude of conundrums in an effort to secure the best care for her child-including her own battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD. Now that “Sweetie” is almost 2 years old, Mora Medina has shifted her focus (at least some of it) to helping other preemie parents. So her is Mora Medina in her own words as she shared the wisdom she has gained in raising “Sweetie”.
Mamas on Bedrest: Are You Aware of Prematurity?
November 4th, 2011November is Prematurity Awareness Month.
Throughout the month various organizations will be presenting programs to raise awareness about prematurity.
What’s most interesting to me is that prematurity and preterm birth are not discussed during pregnancy-at least they weren’t discussed during my first pregnancy. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had complication after complication. It was with her that we contemplated bed rest, but she and I would always rally, we’d both settle down and we managed to keep going. I went into labor at 36 weeks, 6 days. She was coming fast and furious and there was no stopping her! Still, I was unaware that she would be considered premature (she missed 37 weeks by a mere 4 hours!!) and that she would land in the NICU. I’m not going to rehash that story as I have already told it here. But I often wonder, given my complications and mishaps why no one ever mentioned,
“If this baby comes before 37 weeks, she will be considered premature. One out of every 8 babies is born premature in the United States. Worldwide, 13 million babies are born premature each year. These are the potential complications that could arise and if she is born early, she will likely be cared for in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). “
I realize that most OB’s prefer to be positive and to avoid “planting seeds of doubt” in minds that may already be “overactive”. But I was really taken aback the first time that I saw my daughter with a myriad of wires and leads attached to her and was scared out of my wits when I picked her up and an alarm went off. (It merely indicated that a lead had come off of her little foot, but the bells, whistles and lights that began wailing were frightening to say the least!). There should be at least some mention of preterm labor and preterm birth and what that means at some point in the prenatal period. Perhaps as each trimester begins, OB’s and midwives could review what is going on developmentally and what would happen if the baby were to be born at that point in time and how the baby would be cared for. That would have helped me greatly.
So Mamas on Bedrest, I am sharing a few resources here that I highly suggest you review. You don’t have to delve deep into prematurity, but be aware that if you are not at or beyond 37 weeks and your baby were to be born now, your baby is premature and will need special care-perhaps for years to come. Here are some resources to “keep handy”.
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes is quite frankly the most widely known organization dedicated to the health and well-being of babies. They have (in the United States) nationwide offices and resources on all things baby. They have supported extensive research and programs to promote full term pregnancies and to help prevent preterm birth. They run awareness campaigns for Prematurity Awareness Month and in January 2012 will host the Prematurity Prevention Symposium in Washington, DC.
The Preemie Primer
The Preemie Primer by Dr. Jennifer Gunter should be “required reading” for parents of preemies. Dr. Gunter is a mama to very premature triplets, 2 here and one in heaven, and shares how she combined her extensive knowledge as an OB/GYN and Rehabilitation physician to help with the care and development of her boys (now approximately age 8).
Fragile Beginnings Preemie Parent Alliance
A Massachusetts Based Coalition of Organizations, Fragile Beginnings is committed to improving the lives of parents of premature infants through direct support services, providing educational materials, as well as connecting them to community resources and to each other. They are hosting Prematurity Awareness, an event on November 16, 2011, to raise awareness about Prematurity in Massachusetts.
We are constantly adding to our resource page for Preemie Parents as we learn of organizations and resources.
Do you have a preemie parent resource or other information on prematurity? Please share such information at info@mamasonbedrest.com so that we can make it widely available.
Connect with us on Twitter (@mamasonbedrest) and on Facebook.
Mamas on Bedrest: My Little Lovely is 9 Today!
October 7th, 2011
My daughter is 9 years old today.
She awoke with an exuberance that has been bubbling up since we changed the calendar to October. This past Monday, she said to me, “Mama, it smells like October.”
“What does October smell like?” I asked.
“You know, like Fall and Halloween and….MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!“
She has literally been bouncing around all week in anticipation of her birthday festivities. And she has declared the entire month of October her birthday.
It absolutely blows my mind to see this person, who is a mere 6 inches shorter than me (but I’m only 5 ft tall so…), who has ever increasing curiosity about my make up and my jewelry, who is into all things girlie, pink and frilly and will who be a junior cheerleader tonight with a local high school squad emerge from the tiny 5lb 3 oz preemie who struggled to breathe at birth.
My daughter came into this world emergently and insistently on October 7th, 2002 at 8:03pm, 3 weeks and just under 4 hours shy of her due date. Hers was my most difficult pregnancy and one that on more than one occasion I feared wouldn’t survive. I spotted at about 18 weeks and we thought that I was miscarrying. I had “uterine irritability/preterm labor” around 20 weeks-then again at about 22 weeks and again at about 26 weeks. We batted around the idea of bed rest, but each time we got to that point, my daughter would settle down. It was so like her to want to do things in her own way; flopping around a bit as if searching for the exit, but then staying put. Not much has changed.
I am amazed at the bright-eyed girl who looks back at me with the same fixed gaze that she gave me the first time that I held her in the NICU. She looked at me then as if to say, “Oh, it’s you. Good to see you.” I am also amazed at the determination I see reflected back at me when we’re “locking horns”. She holds her ground and doesn’t back down to me or her father. Oh, she obeys what we say, but as she once told me, “Ya know Ma, when I’m older and all grown up, I’m not going to do this!” Of that I have no doubt. She knows what she wants and I am certain that she will get it!
It continues to be my joy and my honor to watch her grow and mature. (Some days more than others!) Watching her devour a burger and fries when she used to stop breathing when she first started nursing heartens me. To watch her tear out after her brother after all the nights I sat up giving her round the clock breathing treatments to ease her breathing and open her airways fills me with joy. To see her wearing one of my t-shirts and it only hanging just a little bit makes me smile because I remember how hard we worked (and how much I fretted) to get her to gain weight and grow for the first 2 years of her life.
I know now that my daughter never had (and doesn’t have) any doubt that she would (will) make it. It’s always been me who has doubted and believed all the negative news the doctors told me. When the neonatologist suggested that we insert a feeding tube down her nose to give her “an adequate amount of food”, my daughter gave him the same steely gaze she often gives me when she adamantly refuses to do something. Then she drank 40 cc of breast milk her very next feeding. “Take that up your nose!” she seemed to say to the neonatologist. And she was discharged 3 days later.
My daughter never ceases to amaze me and she most certainly inspires me. Happy Birthday My Little Lovely!
Bedrest Veterans, please share your stories of triumph. Mamas on Bedrest need to hear these stories and see our children to know that “good outcomes” really do happen. Share your stories below and give your support. Your story may be just what another mama needs to hold on for another day. Thank you!!
