There were no small victories. They were all gigantic.

“Sarah was born at 24 weeks and 1 day, weighing 650 grams. The first few weeks were heart-wrenching. She tested positive for a congenital condition. Her lungs looked horrible. And then, there was a brain bleed. They called it hydrocephalus. She was a storm in a tiny body.”

“We were so worried. We had lost her 2 siblings at the end of the first trimester and getting pregnant had been a challenge. We didn’t want to think about losing her. It hurt so much, but we would never give up.”

“Through it all something amazing happened. She grew. She got stronger. We marveled at every tiny progress she made. Then, a couple of days before discharge we discovered clots in her heart. Our NICU journey lasted 141 days. Whenever we felt we couldn’t handle this anymore, we found the strength to go on.”

“I finally became a MOM. But not a typical one; I became a preemie mom. A very proud preemie mom who will never take anything for granted. Once at home, some challenges remained, new ones arose, but others improved greatly. How is Sarah today? She’s now a big sister to Leanne, born full term. She still has some challenges. But most importantly, she has a joie de vivre that amazes us every day. We have decided to look forward, towards hope. Her laugh makes it all worthwhile.”