Hunter

" I was going for my gestational diabetes test at 26 weeks when the nurses looked concerned after taking my vitals. They then told me to lay down in a room and wait for the doctor. The doctor came in with some papers and told my husband to drive me straight to the hospital that was an hour away. When I got there they immediately put me on magnesium and gave me steroid shots. My blood pressure was 220/175. They told me they were keeping me in the hospital until 32 weeks where I would have to deliver. I only lasted a week and had an emergency cesarean at 27 weeks. This was after they dilated me for hours and I had 3 epidurals. My baby was 1lb 6oz and ended up being a boy after being told the whole time I was having a girl. (His name is Hunter) He was in the NICU for 126 days and came home on oxygen. He was on a feeding tube up until a week before he came home. A month later we went for his check up and he ended up having an emergency VP Shunt surgery. Shortly after he had another surgery. Fast forward at 2 years old and he has his 4th surgery scheduled. He has therapy 3x a week and works so hard. He is such a smart boy and counts to 30, knows his ABC’s, colors, shapes, and animals! He is my miracle boy and I’m so so proud of him!

In the NICU Hunter never gave up. I received the scary calls of having to rush up and potentially say my final goodbye, or have to make hard decisions on what to do. I completely transformed Hunter's cubicle into a brave sanctuary. I had fun photos everywhere and I constantly talked to him. I told him how strong he was and that he is destined for greatness. His due date came and I had the tough discussion with the doctors that he wasn’t anywhere near coming home and that he was expected to stay for longer with no home date. The crazy thing is I went up to Hunter in his crib and told him to “GET IT TOGETHER" and I promised him that I would take him EVERYWHERE if he just got out of the NICU. I told him we could go to the zoo and I didn’t care how many monitors he had. After that conversation a miracle happened, he got better and it happened fast! A month later he was home and so I kept my promise and you better believe we went to the beach, zoo, museums, parks, EVERYWHERE with all the oxygen and monitors. " NICU mom, Melissa