I am thankful for:
Ventilators
C-pap machines
Oxygen prongs
Oxygen masks
Oxygen monitors
Doctors and nurses who specialise in neo-natal care
TPN (total parenteral nutrition)
Breast pumps
Freezers that stored the milk till she could tolerate it
Blood transfusions (7 in total)
Doctors Edgar Rey and Hector Martinez of Bogata, Columbia. I have never been to Columbia, and never met those doctors, but I am thankful for them, for their work with neo-natal babies. And for the practice they introduced:
I’m also thankful for
Baby massage
This photo:
She was three days old then. My husband is holding her and I took that photo. The tubes over her head are from the C-Pap machine, which blew air into her lungs.
Now, she’s just turned fifteen. Without the things on my thankful list, she would not be here, or would not be the calm happy child she is. (Mostly.)
She is almost as tall as I am now.
I am thankful too, for the little old ladies who knitted tiny hats to hold the ventilator tubes in place.
In this photo my daughter models the most up-to-date in premature-baby hats. She was around 2 and a half weeks old, and over the worst of 2 serious illnesses by this point. For a week she was too ill for us to hold her. The tube this time is to a ventilator, because her lungs were still too weak to breathe.
The little old ladies also knitted blankets, which the nurses rolled up and placed in a U shape around the babies in their incubators. The nurses called these “boundary blankets” because they helped the babies feel less lost in the vastness of the incubator.
I’m very thankful she made it through those illnesses, and others that followed. I’m delighted to have celebrated her birthday. She’s a lovely girl and my life is enriched having her in it. That was true from the moment a machine helped her to take her first breath. If you’d like to read more about her early days, I recently wrote about one of those and the most amazing thing my body has ever done.
My wonderful dad used to call my daughter a miracle.
Holding my baby in a Kangaroo cuddle
What do you think?
This post comes as part of the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop.
7 Comments on “Thankful for machines and love”
So glad you had a happy ending to this. I’ve never been through the experience of preemies. Your post is beautiful and her hat is awesome. We kept our baby hats from the hospital for our two. I love that they made special ones for preemies.
A wonderful list of thankful and a beautiful miracle.
Louise, thanks. And I love that you were the first commentator because though I didn’t post my daughter’s name – it’s Louise. There’s a long story to how she ended up with that name, but it is perfect for her. Did you know it means a famous battle maiden, who leads victorious armies into battle? We were tossing between a couple of names until I learned its meaning.
My other daughter (born late) didn’t get a hat. I think it’s only preemies get them in the UK.
Thanks for your comment.
There can’t be a much better list of thankfuls than this one, Yvonne! She really is a miracle child! My niece was born at 32 weeks and weighed 3 lbs 11 oz. Kangaroo Care was something my brother got to do and it was so rewarding.
Dyanne, yes she is a miracle. Kangaroo care was part of what got me through those early days. I don’t know how I would have coped without it. Hope your niece is doing well now. Thanks for your kind comment.
What a wonderful story. Your daughter is a real miracle. I am so happy that you have this story to share. Happy birthday!
Thanks Pattie!
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