Thank You

(I finally sat down and wrote this letter I've been procrastinating.)

Dear Newington/Wethersfield Women's Club,

At the beginning of this year, my family was shaken to the core when my son Isaac was born severely premature at 23 weeks. My water broke on Christmas day, and I spent an agonizing week on hospital bedrest, trying to make it just long enough so the NICU could try and save his life. He was born on New Year's Day and immediately whisked away to the NICU.

As you can imagine, it was a heart and soul wrenching experience for us. My husband and I struggled to make sense of what was happening and tried to adjust as quickly as we could to such a scary and foreign environment. His prognosis was pretty dismal, but we knew we had to have hope for him and for our family.

Those first few days were the scariest of my life. As I was facing the reality that my son may not make it, one of the nurses brought me this beautiful tiny blue blanket that your group had made. Such a small thing, but I cannot express to you the comfort it brought me. Our son was 1 lb. 9 oz. and only 12 inches at birth, and your blanket was just the right size for him. I remember thinking that if we lost him, we would have something soft and beautiful to wrap him in for his burial.

Amidst all the medical equipment, lights, and noises of the NICU, it was such a comfort to have something so soft and cuddly. He was too fragile for us to be able to put the blanket in his isolette, so I found myself holding on to it when I would visit. I can't say how much comfort it brought to Isaac, but it brought immeasurable comfort to me.

It has become one of our cherished items from our son's time in the NICU and something that will remain in our family to help tell the story of Isaac's birth. Thank you so very much for undertaking such a project. It meant the world to me and I just wanted you to know that your efforts were greatly appreciated.

I am happy to be able to tell you that Isaac overcame every hurdle thrown at him and after five months in the NICU, came home with us this summer. He is a remarkable miracle and is doing beautifully. I am so looking forward to showing him this tiny blanket and telling him the story of how he came to us.

Sincerely,

A NICU mom


This month is National Prematurity Awareness Month. I have all kinds of posts swimming in my head, although I will probably only get to or actually post a couple of them.

To kick it off here's some quick facts for you.

In an average week in Connecticut:

810 babies are born
55 babies are born to teen mothers (ages 15-19)
59 babies are born to mothers who receive inadequate prenatal care
81 babies are born preterm
63 babies are born low birthweight
4 babies die before their first birthday

Click here to visit the March of Dimes website.