ONE IN A MULLIGAN

To me it’s known as “the day that never was.”

Ali Dunn tells her story about the constant change in motherhood, and how being the parents of a preemie makes that change even harder.

My kid doesn’t go sit on Santa’s lap. Yes, we celebrate Christmas. No, we’re not trying to end Christmas.

Today is the last day of Prematurity Awareness Month.

Though the life of prematurity is filled with trauma, stress, anxiety, and tears, I am grateful for all that it has given me, as well.

Oral aversion (the reluctance, avoidance, or fear of eating, drinking, or accepting sensation in or around the mouth) is common in preemies.

What if I told you that some preemies have to make more trips to the dentist are more prone to dental issues?

This is the bracelet I had to wear each day during our NICU stay.

Motherhood had just begun and I, right out of the gate, had already failed my child before I’d even met him.

A preemie often does not have the muscle control needed to keep their head upright or to move it if they are having trouble breathing.

If left untreated, this condition can lead to serious, sometimes deadly, complications for both mother and baby.

As with other systems, the immune system of a premature infant does not work as well as that of a full-term baby or child.

Can being born prematurely affect a baby’s brain?

I was all in, well, as much as I could be without an actual baby to feed. Then, Flynn was born three months early.

Unless we start taking about the realities of prematurity, and stop only talking about babies with “normal lives,” nothing will change.

I’ve shared the classifications of premature babies based on birth weight, but there are also different categories based on gestational age.

I promised myself that if we both made it out of this, I would do everything in my power to give him the best life for the rest of my days.

The caffeine in your morning coffee might help get you out of bed, but for premature babies it can be lifesaving.

So, today, on World Kindness Day, I want to share with you our story and tell you to show your new preemie parent friends love.

When Flynn was in the NICU, I had a nervous breakdown. So many things, I felt, were crashing down around me, but what finally broke me?