Episode 4: The Difference One Day Can Make in the NICU
For this episode of Mighty Littles, I had the pleasure of interviewing Cori. Her son Ricki was born at 24 weeks + 1 day. He weighed 1 lb, 10oz, and was 9 1/2 inches long.
NICU - day 2
Cori has become an advocate for mothers and premature infants, in part through learning to advocate for herself and her son. In this episode, she shares the details of their journey with Premature Rupture of Membranes, Preterm Labor, and Prematurity. She bravely tells her story in this podcast and walks us through her intuition regarding not feeling well and trying to find someone to listen to her. Ricki was in the NICU for 112 days and had to overcome complications including Grade IV Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH) and Bowel perforation without Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). Through her story, you can hear how she and her husband dealt with difficult news, faced being given the option to withdraw support, and finding the strength and resolve to know what they wanted for their son and how to fight for their son.
Some of my favorite highlights from this episode include:
Cori talking about how, despite being a mom for 16 days, she became a mother the first time she held her son when he was 16 days old.
I have written about grief in the NICU before. And Cori talks about her process of grieving what you thought would happen in order to move to a mindset where you can be grateful for what you have.
I love Cori’s description of how she was given a place in the NICU and shown that her role as a mother is important in the NICU.
But what I love most in this podcast is how Cori describes their fight for “just one more day”. One more day to make it to viability. One more day to let the steroids take effect. One more day to be stable enough to tolerate surgery.
We also briefly touch on the healing aspect of touch, which can be so important in the NICU.
Ricki pulling tubes!
Going Home
After 112 days, on his original due date!
I hope you enjoy this podcast. Please like, comment, and subscribe to Mighty Littles wherever you listen to your podcasts.