Micro Preemie Monday
Thank you for joining us for another Micro Preemie Monday, and another story of hope. If you missed any recent Mondays, you can catch up and read Charlotte’s story HERE, and then you can get updates on some of our past families HERE and HERE.
Today
Today, we meet not one, but two preemies. They are a set of identical twins almost born at the same gestation as my boys. Here is their Mom, Marilu, to tell you all about her boys. All pictures are courtesy of Marilu.
1. Tell us about your Micro Preemies
My identical twin boys, Nicolas Javier and Lucas Rafael were born on December 16th, 2014 at 25 weeks and 3 days gestation. Nicolas weighed 2 lbs 0.2 oz and Lucas weighed 2 lbs 0.5 oz.
2. How long was your NICU stay? What was the hardest part?
My boys were in the NICU for 120 days, we were truly blessed to bring them both home on the same day. The hardest part for me was the feeling of helplessness that refused to go away and the guilt that ate away at me for so long. I felt like everything that happened was because of me and it has taken time for those feelings to subside.
3. Do you know what caused your premature birth?
No. I was seeing both an ob and a high risk specialist and neither could tell me what caused it, other than carrying twins.
4. How are you and your babies doing now?
I am doing infinitely better now that we are home, I still struggle with that guilt sometimes, particularly when something is wrong, but I couldn’t be happier. Our boys are doing great! They are chunks! They each weigh just under 20 lbs now and they are meeting all of their milestones.
5. What advice would you give to a new preemie parent?
It sucks. A lot of it just flat-out sucks and it’s horrible being there. You watch as your little one takes one step forward then two steps back and worst of all, you are afraid of hope. My advice to you, is don’t be afraid of hoping for a bright future because there is light at the end of the tunnel, it may just take a little while to reach it. So, don’t be afraid of hoping and give your little one all the love you can because that is what they need and deserve.
Preemie Moms
Thank you so much to Marilu for sharing her preemies with us. I know that many of us Preemie moms can relate to the guilt that Marilu felt. It’s so hard watching your baby struggle in the hospital. Even though it doesn’t feel like much, just being there and loving your baby/babies is enough.
If you are ever struggling with feelings from your premature birth, or know someone who is, and they need to talk, please send me an email. I can be reached at shanneva@yahoo.com. Sometimes, it helps to talk to someone who has been in a similar situation.
World Prematurity Day
I hope you’ll join me tomorrow when we celebrate World Prematurity Day. I have some special friends that are celebrating with me, and I also have advice on how you can help in the fight against Premature Birth.
You can still participate too! Just leave your picture of you wearing purple on my Facebook Wall, message it to me, or email it to me at shanneva@yahoo.com. Go #PurpleforPreemies
oh my gosh, these babies are so sweet. I’m hppy they’re both home now-It’s so hard for me to imagine having a baby at 25 weeks, I’m 22 right now and that’s less than 3 weeks away. These stories are so beautiful
They are so cute! I know several moms who have had premature births so I think this is so great that you are telling their stories on your blog. Thoughts and prayers with all the mamas and preemie babies out there <3
What precious littles! My little guy wasn’t a preemie, but spent some time in the NICU, where I was fortunate enough to meet some preemies and preemie Mommas. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad they are doing better now. My mom had a premature birth — they were twins and only one survived. I’m talking decades ago…my brother is a happily-married man in his 30s, who named his daughter after the twin sister, Jennifer.
That is such a beautiful tribute. Thank you for sharing.
These stories are so encouraging and full of hope. Thank you for sharing!
wow! Thank you Lord for this story! They are so precious!
I am so glad the twins are doing wonderfully!! They are adorable!
Wow, they are so cute! So good to see how well they are doing and how well they have developed! Love these posts! Happy Monday xxx
What beautiful boys! Glad to hear they are doing well. And I love what she said about hope, too.
I love the family photo on the ground like that – so cute! And thanks for sharing another story.
Awwwww these little angles are so cute! Thank you for sharing their inspirational story Shann 🙂
Very touching and transparent story. I am happy that the boys and you are doing well. Don’t beat yourself up about it, things happen in life that we have no control over. That is how the universe works a lot of times. They look very strong and will always be fighters in life! 😉
Awe these little guys are the cutest! Glad to see they are doing so good!
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They are SO precious! Thanks for sharing your story, Marilu!
What sweet little peanuts! They are so adorable!
I love that she is so real in this post. You are so right- sometimes it just sucks! But I think she has handled it with exceptional grace!
They are so cute….God bless them and hats off to all those parents who have suffered from this in life.
Such an adorable family! Thanks for sharing their story. So happy to hear they are doing well.
I love what you do, Shann, bringing awareness to premature births. This little guy in this post is just adorable!
so glad to see them doing so well! What cuties!
Ahhh! Those little nuggets are so cute, I am so happy they are okay now. I take for granted the fact that my second son was so big. Stories like this put my situation into perspective. Thank you Marilu for sharing your story and your pictures, your family is beautiful.
Such cute little boys! Glad they are doing well!
They were so tiny and what a couple of cuties! Thank you for sharing their story with us. I wish them all the best!
Cori
Such beautiful babies. She a great story.
They are such sweet little boys, and they are lucky to have such a great mama!!
They are such precious gifts! I’m so glad to see that they’re doing well!
Beautiful little angles – and such a story – I am so glad for you and so glad I didn’t have to go thru this experience. My prayers and heart is with you all.
Your right, looking at the last photo they do look like “little chunks” but they are so cute! I’m glad to here that they are both doing well and meeting all of their milestones.
Don’t tell my husband but I think I just got baby fever! LOL My little boys are 3 1/2 and 5 years old now.
I absolutely love this series. What a wonderful source of encouragement for mothers of premies! Lucas and Nicholas are absolutely adorable and I’m glad to hear they are becoming strong boys!
What sweet babies!
I cant even imagine having two babies so small. What a story!