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Against All Odds
Submitted by: Jacki Killarney, MN 2009-07-22
Against All Odds
I beat the odds!
Hard to believe, but I was born at 32 57 weeks old by emergency C-Section.
Hi. My name is Graeme Rhys. I was born on January 4, 2008 at 12:39am, and my expected arrival was January 25, 2009. I weighed in at 3 lbs 8 oz, 16.9" long. When I was born, I was transferred to the NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit and put on oxygen set at 6-8 PSI to help me with my breathing so that my lungs wouldn't collapse. A few days later, the doctor changed me to a ventilator that was set at 300 beats per minute, but set at less pressure, 2.5 PSI. I was on this for 6 days.
I had one nurse per shift that was strictly in charge of taking care of me. I had so many tubes and monitors watching over me, that there were always whistles, beeps, horns and alarms going off around me. I was given Morphine to sedate me and keep me comfortable until I was a week old. Then, they started me on caffeine, which I received for another week.
10 days after my birth, my mom and dad were both able to hold me for the first time. Up till now, they had only been able to touch me through the holes in the incubator. They got to learn how to give me a bath, change my diaper, check my temperature, change monitor probes and feed me with bottles.
I started out being fed 1 ml every 4 hours, and that slowly increased to 4 ml every 3 hours. 2 weeks later, I was on full feeds, which was 30 ml every 3 hours. I had a feeding tube that was inserted straight to my tummy, and the nurses would slowly insert my milk to feed me. The goal was to get to 2 full days without being tube fed.
16 days after being born, I was moved out of NICU to Intermediate Care Nursery where I would stay until my release. There was less monitoring here and my family and friends got to handle me more frequently. As a family, we spent Christmas and New Year's in the hospital. We received many Christmas gifts that were gathered through the local Ronald McDonald House.
On January 14th, 2009, 6 weeks after my arrival, I was released from hospital. I am so thankful for my mom and dad, Grandmas and Grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and family that prayed for me, visited me, and encouraged my mom and dad.
Yes, I was a preemie! But, I beat the odds!
** Graeme Rhys is now 7.5 months old. He weighs 15 lbs, and is 28" long. He has had no health issues since being released. He is a happy and healthy baby.
Hard to believe, but I was born at 32 57 weeks old by emergency C-Section.
Hi. My name is Graeme Rhys. I was born on January 4, 2008 at 12:39am, and my expected arrival was January 25, 2009. I weighed in at 3 lbs 8 oz, 16.9" long. When I was born, I was transferred to the NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit and put on oxygen set at 6-8 PSI to help me with my breathing so that my lungs wouldn't collapse. A few days later, the doctor changed me to a ventilator that was set at 300 beats per minute, but set at less pressure, 2.5 PSI. I was on this for 6 days.
I had one nurse per shift that was strictly in charge of taking care of me. I had so many tubes and monitors watching over me, that there were always whistles, beeps, horns and alarms going off around me. I was given Morphine to sedate me and keep me comfortable until I was a week old. Then, they started me on caffeine, which I received for another week.
10 days after my birth, my mom and dad were both able to hold me for the first time. Up till now, they had only been able to touch me through the holes in the incubator. They got to learn how to give me a bath, change my diaper, check my temperature, change monitor probes and feed me with bottles.
I started out being fed 1 ml every 4 hours, and that slowly increased to 4 ml every 3 hours. 2 weeks later, I was on full feeds, which was 30 ml every 3 hours. I had a feeding tube that was inserted straight to my tummy, and the nurses would slowly insert my milk to feed me. The goal was to get to 2 full days without being tube fed.
16 days after being born, I was moved out of NICU to Intermediate Care Nursery where I would stay until my release. There was less monitoring here and my family and friends got to handle me more frequently. As a family, we spent Christmas and New Year's in the hospital. We received many Christmas gifts that were gathered through the local Ronald McDonald House.
On January 14th, 2009, 6 weeks after my arrival, I was released from hospital. I am so thankful for my mom and dad, Grandmas and Grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and family that prayed for me, visited me, and encouraged my mom and dad.
Yes, I was a preemie! But, I beat the odds!
** Graeme Rhys is now 7.5 months old. He weighs 15 lbs, and is 28" long. He has had no health issues since being released. He is a happy and healthy baby.
Submitted by: Jacki Killarney, MN 2009-07-22