Ann's Blog on premature baby

Ann's second semester blog #2:


"'Miracle baby' homecoming delayed" (cnn.com, februrary 20, 2007)

Amillia Sonja Taylor is the little girl in the picture who was born extremely prematurely. She spent a record breaking short time inside her mother womb. After the mere 22 weeks inside, she was born on October 24, 2006. She could now be released from the hospital, but they are keeping her there for a few extra days as a precaution. Part of the reasoning behind this is because of some test results that prove her to be vulnerable to infection. On October 24, when she was born, she weighed less than 10 ounces and was only nine and one half inches long. What a little baby!!! Since then she has grown to become 4 and one half pounds and grown to a length of 15 and one half inches. (still a little baby) She has had some issues involving her health so far with things like respiratory and digestive problems and a mild brain hemorrhage. Thankfully, the doctors predict that these issues won't produce long term effects. Amillia has been on an incubator since her birth in order to receive proper amounts of oxygen. With her release, she will continue to receive some sort of supplement that will continue to help her in receiving oxygen.

What a precious little thing!!! I can't imagine a baby that weighed less than 10 ounces. My first reaction is cute, but then I think, SCARY. The poor parents... What a struggle for them. I can't imagine what that would be like and I hope that I never have to experience it for myself. I know that when I become pregnant I will have amazingly high expectations and think that nothing bad could ever happen to "my" baby. And I am sure that every other female in the world has a similar mindset. Obviously I will still be cautious and things like that, but I picture my baby's birthday as the most joyful day I will experience. I'm sure it was quite the shocker for the mother to know that she is only 22 weeks along and the doctors are going to make it time for her baby to be on its own. I bet that was one of the scarriest realities of her life. To me, it would almost be like a horror story. I would have trouble accepting that it was really happening and that the child of my dreams, who I already love, is in a very critical condition. What is even worse is that from there it doesn't get any better. Then come the constant battles against the infections of the world. It would probably be such a challenge to know that, as a mother, you couldn't do anything to help. I would want to be like, 'here baby, talk my antibodies, Ill help you fight off the world.' Gol, and to think about how much money it must be costing the parents. What a rollercoaster of an experience for these first time parents. What chaos. I pray for these people and also for me so that when I become a mom, I never have to go through this. (Current events are crazy to me, in my blogs I always end up saying, "they'll be in my prayers" everything is about the struggles of life and the bad things. Scary.)

Article from:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/20/tiny.baby.ap/index.html
picture from;
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/20/tiny.baby.ap/index.html