Success Stories of 23 Wk Old Preemies?

Congratulations on your new baby boy!!! As little and helpless as these early ones seem I think God gives them extra strength and determination. I had a 28 weeker who spent a little over 7 weeks in the NICU who today is 5 1/2 and one of the brightest in her kindergarten class. She is active in all sports and activities and excels in everything she does. We are continually amazed at how far she has come from the tiny 2 pounder. We remained friends with some families we met in the NICU who had a 23 week little girl, a family who had a 24 week little girl, and a family who had 26 week triplets, and all 5 kids are bright, healthy kids. My daughter and two others wear glasses but they might have worn them even if they were full term. Please feel free to email me anytime if you need to talk, have questions, or just need that reassurance. My prayers are with you and your precious baby boy.

God Bless your little boy R., and congratulations on his birth! I'm in agreement with the prayers that are going out and our God is listening to each of them. Don't be discourage but in "All Things Praise God"!!! Also, I wanted to share my cousin's story, she's close to 30 now... She was 3 months early, not sure how many weeks, but around 2 lbs or less when she was born. She's about to give birth to her 3 child in May. She was the top in her classes, very smart, and just one of the most kindest persons you'll ever meet. God knows the number of hair in your head, how much more your son means to him...
Keep your faith, I'll be praying for you too!
God Bless You, your husband and your precious baby boy!

Hi R.,

I don't have any experience with premature babies, I just tell you that I will be praying for your little man in these coming days. My husband and I went through a major medical crisis with our three year old son Bryce back in September and I posted our desperate need for prayers for his life here on Mamasource and I had over 200 responses from the most caring ladies. There are women on here that are faithful and fervent prayer warriors so I hope it brings you an extra measure of peace knowing so many will be petitioning the Lord for your little boy's strength and growth. If you don't mind, will you share with us what you named this little guy? I love praying for someone by name, it really helps me feel connected so much better.

My prayer for you:

"Lord Jesus, I lift up to you now R.'s baby boy. Lord, you know that he is so tiny and delicate right now. I pray that your hands would hold and protect his little body from any and all harm. Guide his doctors in great wisdom, whisper gently in their ears the right procedures and medicines to give that will bring growth and strength to this little miracle. Protect R. and her husband as they experience so many emotions related to their little boy. Give them strength and perserverance to get through each day gracing them with the security that You are in control. Praying, knowing all things are possible with You...Amen"

Many blessings!
Glenda Wilson

I've got a few.

A couple of years back, there were two families that had sextuplets at the same time (VERY early gestation).

One of the families (The Morrison Sextuplets) did lose most of the babies except one-Silas Morrison who was born at 22 weeks and is the sole survivor. He's got challenges but is thriving and both he and his mom are amazing.

If you'd like to see him, here's the blog his mom made:
http://www.littlegreenpastures.com/

Another is the "Tiniest Preemie", she was a 27 weeker but was smaller than a soda can and she's done great:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5748130/from/ET/

And finally, one of my personal favorites for reasons near and dear to my heart, is Baby Amillia who I believe was a 21 weeker, mistakenly resuscitated because they thought she was a 23 weeker.
http://wilmette.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html
At age 1 she was doing great!
http://wilmette.blogspot.com/2007/10/happy-first-birthday...

R., may HE lift you and your family up. HE has a plan for you and your husband and son. May HE comfort you as you go through this journey and give you the stregnth you need to get through it all.

All my best,

-C.

My step-son, who is now about to turn 16, was born at 26 weeks. I asked my husband what got him through during the times of uncertainty and he told me it was on faith alone.
I know that weeks even days matter especially with little boys due to lung development, so although I've never actually gone through the birth of a premature child I just want to offer the encouragement that babies do survive that small. Technology has advanced even since my step-son was born.
My husband said that he felt like when he would go visit it was almost like my step-son would respond positively, so even when the nurses would say he was having a bad night or something, by the time Jon got there to hold him he would improve, even if it was just something as simple as keeping his formula down.
We will pray for your little Garrett and for you. I wish I had something more to say, or better yet something that you could do, but I trust God will take care of you and your baby and your husband!
Oh yeah and after reading some of the other responses I wanted to add, my step-son is a straight A student, perfectly healthy (although his growth was a little stunted) and very artistic!

I have a friend who was in the hospital the same time I was (both at 23 weeks) and she ended up having her son while mine went to full term. It was a VERY rough and scary time for a couple of months. But now (1.5 years later) you cannot even tell a difference in between our two babies. I know how scary it is but there are medical miracles for these tiny babies.

How are you doing?

Have you started a caring bridge website? I know that was very helpful to her. Because even though she enjoyed talking about him it was draining to explain the updates over and over to each friend and family member, but keeps everyone informed.

Hello R.,

Congratulations on the birth of your baby! One of my daughter's friends (who just turned 7) was a preemie (I don't remember how many weeks). but the doctors expected her to be be blind, and with so many, many other issues...that was, if she survived. Today she's a thriving 7-year old that's 100% healthy and you'd never imagine that she was such a preemie. May God bless you and hear all of our prayers for your baby. ~C.~

Hello R.,
Congratulations! I can not offer a personal story but I have prayed for you and will continue to pray. I did some searches on the internet that may give you encouragement.

http://www.mch.com/page/EN/2254/Neonatology/Patient-Succe...

http://www.nysun.com/national/youngest-premature-babys-su...

E.

I just became a member today and came across your request. How is your son doing? How are you and your husband doing? I gave birth 3 years ago to a micro preemie (2.1 lbs.) born at 28 weeks. My husband and I joined a support group for parents of preemies that met once a week in the hospital to help us cope. We found sharing our experience with other parents of babies in the NICU to be beneficial to our mental well being. I also found the book PREEMIES: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR PARENTS OF PREMATURE BABIES to be very helpful. Our daughter just turned 3 last month and we couldn't be more delighted with her development. I wish you and your family the very best.

I have not personally been through it but one of my daughter's elementary teachers did go through this and we all were very concerned for her family.

First of all, her baby girl is doing well right now. She will be 2 in December. Hang in there. She went through surgeries, lots of NICU.

I can't imaging how overwhleming it is for parents and family. There is a website she created a profile on and instead of having to repeat to everyone all the progress....it was posted on the family profile every time she updated. She was able to have pictures and we were all able to leave messages of encouragement for her to know she was being thought of.

The site is caringBridge.com.

I did not scan the site but I understand it is for families like yours with someone who needs extra care and to keep friends and families up to date on progress withoout staying on th phone all the time.

Best wishes to you...

My nephew is a 26 weeker, and he is now 8 years old, and perfectly developed. He plays baseball and basketball in school already, and is actually better than a lot of the other kids, he is already in the gifted and talented program in school. He is extremely smart, at age 4 he was putting 1000 peice puzzles together in a matter of 1 hour, I CAN'T even do that! He does however have asthma, he ended up getting RSV 3 months after birth (someone visited their house and was carrying the virus), and after that he had chronic asthma, he had to have breathing treatments several times a day for the first 5 years, but at 6 yrs old, it was almost like his little body was trying to outgrow it. He doesn't have to take breathing treatments daily anymore, he does however have to carry a rescue inhailer, and anytime he spends the night with us (we live 2 hours away from them) my Brother & Sister in Law sends his nebulizer, just in case, although we've not had to use it in a few years.

Congradulations on your new blessing, I'm sure it's an hourly struggle, and I will keep you and your little one in our prayers. I hope this helps ease your mind a little in the fact that my nephew is perfectly developed, and living life to the fullest.

A.

Congrats and I LOVE the name.

We have some good friends who had twin boys at 23 weeks. They were in the hospital up until about the time of their due date, but made it through healthier than can be expected. I think the worst problem was that one of the boys lost an eye, but he has adjusted and does fine with it. The boys are 13 now, very intelligent and one is even a black belt.

Our prayers are with you and your little one.