Sunday, June 17, 2012


You must be this tall to ride this roller coaster...


"For many families, a baby's NICU stay is like a roller coaster ride, with ups and downs, triumphs and setbacks. Of course, the parents are also along for the ride."

This statement is from the March of Dimes website.

As a child I can remember the first time that I saw The Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas boy did it look fun. My dad was the one to take me on this monster of a roller coaster. It was terrifyingly fun... little did I know I would get the chance for a roller coaster ride of this extreme.


Today was a rough day for us. My mom took me to visit Caroline this morning and I got to meet the Nurse Practitioner that helped in Caroline's delivery... she was the one who popped my joyful ride. I am not going into too many details for several reasons but the main ones being there is not enough information to really say exactly what is to come and two I am emotionally and physically spent. In short I need some prayers for my little girl... She's needs to grow. The growth that has been seen is not where it needs to be for her. She was small to begin with. So grow prayers are needed.

Having a baby in the NICU is like no other journey I have experienced. I could compare it to my mom's car wreck in 2003 but this is so much harder. I think back to that roller coaster ride and question how I went on for so many months being the rock that I was. How did I hold myself together? How did I keep on going? How? Two weeks in and I feel more overwhelmed each day. I have a baby but I can't do much to help her. Pumping every two hours is physically exhausting but it's really all I can do.

Looking back to my roller coaster ride with my dad it was the start of many to come. Some ups some downs but the test of will power and strength is to be had. We are of course in this for the long haul... with what looks like will be many more weeks of triumphs and setbacks.

On a side note:  Happy Father's Day to my sweet, loving, wonderful, amazing Tom Tom.  I could not ask for a better man for Caroline to call Daddy.