How to Follow Up?

Yesterday’s post was hard won and personally very cathartic to write.  Thank you for all the amazing comments, support and love.  I am excited to be able to move from feeling like a failure to looking with pride and joy on Patrice’s birth.

Today is World Prematurity Day.  I have seen that popping up on twitter and facebook and was thinking, but I have nothing to write about concerning that day.  I am blessed that each of my girls came full-term, two of them with a little extra baking time even.

Then it dawned on me, I was a preemie baby. 

I was born 6 weeks early a *few* years ago.  My mom went into labor after a volleyball got spiked into her stomach and knocked loose a piece of my placenta.  The doctors told her even if that had not happened,  I had run out of room so would have needed to be born very soon.

So there I was.  And back then, 6 weeks was a lot to be early.  They did an emergency c-section, whisked me off to the nursery and so began a 3 week stay in the hospital.

I cannot imagine how hard it was on my mom to have all this going on.  To be given conflicting information on if she could nurse me, to have baby away from her most of the time and then to go home without her little girl.  Oh boy.  They wanted to keep Sue for an extra night when she was born due to jaundice and I went ape on them…the thought of weeks…wow.

Then she brought me home and at 4 lbs 5 ounces, no baby clothes fit.  Thankfully a neighbor lady saw my mom’s plight and fixed up some doll clothes for me to wear.  What a rough start for my mama.  No wonder I’m an only child…or does that mean my parents reached perfection the first time and didn’t need to have anymore?? 🙂

My heart goes out to the mamas whose babies come early.  I have seen friends work through it, and it is hard.  There is so many emotions as they wait to see how their babies will fare physically and mentally after their early arrival.

March of Dimes works to end prematurity.  Won’t you check out their website?  Get the facts, get involved?  Babies all over the world thank you!