A Special Day for H and Mama

Today H and I went to a reunion at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the hospital where she was born. It was the second or third of its kind that we have attended but today was a little different. H is quickly approaching the important age of 8. I am amazed how much more she understands about her history of prematurity now than she has in the past. We have always told her how special she was (is) and she has been to the hospital several times to see the nurses and rooms where she spent the first 4 months of her life, but today I think it really started to sink in for her.

I think in the past, her history was just an interesting story to her. Today she was emotional as she asked questions and met nurses who knew her by name and hugged her with glad recognition. She tried to understand how her entry into the world was a little different from her brothers. She was emotional when I showed her the doorway into the hospital where Brad and I passed every single day for four months to see our little miracle baby. She asked me if we were afraid that she was going to die. I told her about the Priesthood blessings she was given and how we didn't know if she would live, but we hoped she would.

I am seeing in H the change that comes to all children around the age of accountability. There is a maturity that comes with the emergence of rational thought that she is exhibiting. She is such a special girl. She is trying so hard to be good and helpful. I think back to the days when I would sit next to her isolette and watch her struggle with tubes and monitors going every which way and wonder if we would ever see the day when she would be accountable, get baptized and understand what a special miracle she has been in our lives. Her birthday is next month. She will be baptized soon thereafter. I am so excited. What a blessing it is to be her mother. I love you, my little H!

The cute little redhead girl in the picture with H is Baby G. She was the other little Mormon baby that was in the hospital at the same time as H. She was born at 23 weeks and initially was not expected to live. Her parents were so amazing with us and were our greatest cheerleaders for H. At one point H and G shared an isolation room because they both had an eye infection. She was really cute with H today and very affectionate. She turned eight and was baptized this past week. I can see that G "gets it" too. It was so special to see them together. I was also surprised to meet G's 9-month old baby brother (7 years apart). He was born full-term and healthy. G has come a long way with therapy and such, and is doing very well. It was a real pleasure to meet her again.

The blonde nurse (Lisa) in the picture took care of H a lot and was one of our favorites. One night H was particularly fussy and she swaddled her up and tucked her into the pocket of her scrubs. She took a picture and called it "H in a pocket" and gave it to us. H has seen that picture many times. I think it was fun for her to see Nurse Lisa again.

I had the chance to speak with the neonatologist that advised us before H was born of all of the statistics and risks we were up against. He was also in the delivery room. I was able to thank him for being honest and compassionate with us as we faced hard decisions before she was born and then was encouraging and helpful after she was born. We feel so blessed for having had such great caretakers while she was there. It was nice to be able to thank him again almost 8 years later.

Thank you Paga and Katie for taking the boys so H and I could go to this special event together.