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Challenge: NICU Parenting

Heartbreak and Hope

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Our girls were born on June 16, 2017 at 28 weeks and 1 day. We knew they would be born early because they were mono mono twins and most doctors don't allow delivery past 34 weeks. I went in-patient at 26 weeks on June 1st. I was monitored multiple times a day and until the 16th everything looked great. I had an ultrasound that morning that showed both babies had great blood flow; however, at 4pm that evening everything changed. When hooked up Baby A had a steady high heartbeat with no changes. She was in distress because their umbilical cords knotted, restricting the blood flow to Reagan. I was rushed for an emergency cesarean. When I woke up I was told Reagan didn't survive, but our baby B was in the NICU. That began our 74 day journey of bringing Kenadi home. We had no idea the NICU world until we were thrown into it. We celebrated grams of weight gain, bed changes, tub baths, growing out of micro preemie diapers, and actually wearing clothes. We learned the terminology: brady, NG, NPO, desat, etc... We learned what each alarm meant and how to read the monitors. Family and friends joked we could be nurses, but we knew we could never replace the special NICU nurses that saved our daughter's life each and ever second. After74 days, Kenadi was able to come home and we even beat the twins' due date. We will be forever grateful for Cox Medical Center South and the special respiratory therapists, nurses, PT, OT, and doctors that allowed us to have Kenadi in our lives.

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