My name is Elise, and am the proud parent of a beautiful baby girl named Mariah Raelene. Born at 26 weeks, due to pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, she weighed 1lb. 4oz. and was 13 inches in length. We have just celebrated her first birthday this month and she is doing amazingly well. She is quite small for her age, just under 14lbs., but she is livelier than heck!
During our almost four month NICU stay, she experienced her ups and downs, like any other preemie. I would often stare at her in the incubator and marvel at her will to survive under all those harsh circumstances. I'm happy to say, that she pulled through and her biggest problem was a feeding issue. As of late, Mariah loves to eat food and puts it away like a champ.(too bad, she doesn't feel the same way about her formula.) I'm glad there are websites like this one, that are helpful and supportive to others that are dealing with the same thing. It helps to know, that your not the only one going through this alone. It's because of Mariah, that I now see the world in an entirely different light. I realize, that things could have been different and that we are very lucky to have her today.
Thank you,
Elise