“I was recovering from birth while walking from the parking garage to my baby multiple times a day, changing my pad in a hospital bathroom, setting alarms to pump. I mustered up the strength to sit at a hospital, postpartum, while my 1-week-old baby had his chest cut open.”
‘You aren’t leaving without delivering.’ I sat in disbelief. After 7 days of life, they cut into his side.’: Woman gives birth to baby with CHD, ‘We are blown away by his strength’
‘I took him to the ER. His circumcision didn’t look to be healing right. We had a gut feeling something was wrong.’: Parents perplexed after newborn’s near-death scare, ‘He’s a fighter’
“His temperature wouldn’t come above 95 degrees. The doctor said it was ‘fine’ and set to discharge us with a prescription for antibiotic cream. We had a gut feeling something was wrong. The doctor was white as a sheet. ‘This test can’t be right.’ Life stopped when he was 5 days old.”
‘I don’t want to deliver my baby in a car!’ I started to bawl. My baby’s foot was hanging out of my cervix.’: Woman gives birth to baby at 22 weeks, ‘I had no idea they saved tiny babies like mine’
“I felt fluid run down my leg. I panicked, bawling because I didn’t know what was happening. I was only 22 weeks and 2 days. The doctor gave me two options: He could be intubated or just lay on my chest for comfort care. I told her to try everything to save my baby.”
‘You can go home now.’ How could I leave him? I felt as if a black cloud surrounded us.’: Couple’s last baby born with Down syndrome, ‘Our precious bonus child is a gift’
“All I wanted was to run down the hall to the NICU, scoop my baby up, and run away. Away from all the seemingly bad news. I didn’t want to know any more.”
‘There was no sugar-coating it. Her brain was bleeding. We we warned, ‘She may end up blind, deaf, or mute.’: Daughter born with hydrocephalus, ‘I find joy in every single second’
“She’s had 100 brain surgeries. I’ve sat alone in a waiting room in the middle of the night after signing consent forms for emergency surgery, not knowing how she was going to be when she made it out. If she made it out. But it’s obvious she’s not giving up.”
‘You might want to think about having only one child.’ I knew the risks. The OB kept tapping my face, screaming, ‘Get the doctor, hurry!’: Woman with HELLP syndrome says, ‘I’m happy with the choices I made’
“My husband called his family to say, ‘Mom and baby are okay.’ When he stepped out of the room, my blood pressure dropped. It was my worst nightmare all over again. I don’t know if others would make the same choices I did.”
‘The sonographer said, ‘There’s a foot in your vagina.’ I didn’t hear my baby cry. ’Is she alive?’: Woman gives birth to micro-preemie, ‘My life plans didn’t include a NICU stay during a pandemic’
“I was in a daze. ‘Your baby needs to come out right now.’ I lay on the operating table alone while they sewed my now empty womb back together. 3 hours later, they told us, ‘She might not survive it.’ Our hearts broke. None of it seemed right.”
‘She’s just too sick.’ I kept telling her how much I loved her. I thanked her for choosing me. I could not protect her anymore.’: Mom grieves loss of newborn baby, ‘I will forever have Natalia as my angel’
“I remember my doctor’s face as she quietly said to the nurse, ‘We’re at five! We’re going now!’ My baby was breech. She wasn’t ready. Up until this point, she was safe with me. I knew after this moment, I could not protect her anymore.”
‘I’m going to throw up.’ He looked like an unfamiliar creature. Everything I expected went out the window.’: Woman gives birth to twin preemies at 24 weeks, ‘We knew this would be the greatest fight of our lives’
“A nurse said, ‘Do you want a picture?’ I abruptly said, ‘No.’ I was trying to erase the past 6 hours from my memory. I didn’t even know if my baby would survive. Why would I want a picture or anything that would make me feel attached to this little creature? Baby B was barely alive.”
‘Please don’t take him away from me.’ We were wiping down our phones, scrubbing our fingernails with hot soap. We put on gowns, gloves, and masks.’: Mom births 24-week-old miracle micro-preemie
“‘He’s breathing.’ That’s the first thing my husband, Myles, said to me as the doctor delivered our 1 lb. 14 oz. baby via emergency C-section at only 24 weeks. The nurses were running to his bed to manually pump breaths into his lungs. I went to the ER fully prepared to not hear his heartbeat. But every time I thought he was gone, there he was, his heart beating away.”
