November is Prematurity Awareness Month
As a therapist I had read hundreds of medical histories, so when I was told at a 30-week check up I was going to be admitted to the hospital and put on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy reality didn’t hit me. It wasn’t until our baby, due at the end of February, was born Christmas Eve weighing just over 3 pounds. It was then that I realized we were in the fight for our lives.
Being a parent is hard enough, but I could have used those extra months to prepare even more. Although I don’t know what could have prepared me for leaving my baby at the hospital when I went home. For the multiple back/forth trips to bring her milk and the calls at night to check in to see if she was ready to come home, only to hear that she “failed her car seat test”.
But, she continued to fight and grow. Looking back, I wore my therapist hat and was in survival mode myself. Being a mom wasn’t this blissful bonding experience I expected. I looked at every area of development and what I needed to teach or expose her to. She’s now almost 9 years old and only recently did I step back and realizes she needed me to be her mom. She was going to develop and grow up faster than I could do anything about. I needed to find times to laugh and relax with her, to build memories and a relationship that would survive teenage years. We are very fortunate to be her parents, as prematurity is a leading cause of death among babies. We were blessed to have colleagues in our lives who supported us. Many children born premature require therapies and other supports. We also found a lot of resources available at prematurity.org.
Now as a therapist, I have first hand experience of hearing the word “adjusted age” and a better understanding of the fear all parents experience in second guessing all of the decisions they make for their child. I know there are different levels of challenges, but I better understand each person’s challenge is big to them. I believe the days may be long, but the years go by fast. I want to celebrate all the moments I get to be her mom.
Help me celebrate National Prematurity Awareness by wearing Purple this November. Share your stories/videos with us! It will be all too soon that these little babies will be teenagers.
Written by Sarah Rosten, MA, CCC-SLP/L
