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We found out that we were expecting our first child in January 1998. As in the case of most expecting parents, we were both excited and nervous. The first 24 weeks of this pregnancy were uneventful. At our 25-week ultrasound, we decided to learn the sex of our baby.  Elated with the news that we were having a little girl, our joy quickly turned to fear.
The technician explained that our daughter’s growth was 4-6 weeks behind normal, and her amniotic fluid was dangerously low. The doctor gave us the grim statistics: our daughter had only a 10-15% chance of survival. With a last ditch effort of strict bed rest, her fluid levels did not rise, and the decision was made that her best chance of survival was outside of the womb.
Alexandra “Lexi” Gabrielle was born at 26 weeks gestation, weighing a mere one pound, and was just 11 inches long. This marked the beginning of our 89-day journey through the NICU.
As we entered the new millennium, we decided to meet with a high-risk specialist to determine if we could attempt to have another baby. We were nervous to try after what we went through with Lexi. After much consideration, we made a decision to have another baby. We were informed that we had a good chance of a “ normal” pregnancy with strict follow up visits to the doctors. We found out during this pregnancy that Lupus antibodies were most likely the cause of having our daughter premature and that this current pregnancy had to be even more closely monitored. Even with all of the monitoring, we delivered Jared Robert at 27 weeks gestation. He weighed 2 lbs, 3 ounces and our second NICU journey had begun.
We spent a combined 156 days between Lexi and Jared in the NICU. We spent a majority of those days worrying about the kind of future they had in store for them. We feel very blessed to look at them today playing and laughing like everyday children…..
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