My Baby is One in Ten
Three years ago today, this was my due date.
Instead, my baby was born four weeks early. I got an October baby instead of the November baby.
My little one is 1 in 10 in the United States.
1 in 10 babies that are born too early.
1 in 10 babies that may have to spend days, weeks, sometimes MONTHS, in the hospital because their little bodies were not ready for this world.
The causes of premature birth vary and more than 80% of them are unanticipated.
The cause of my premature birth – preeclampsia and PROM (premature rupture of membranes or simply put, spontaneous breaking of my water). I believe God broke my water to get me to the hospital because I had developed preeclampsia. There was no sign that I was developing it, I had been in for my check-up with my doctor just the day before. By the time I got to triage, my blood pressure was at a “hypertensive crisis” level. If my water hadn’t broke, who knows how much worse it could have been.
I am one of 3 in 20 women who will develop preeclampsia in the United States every year. A condition that can cause 15% of this country’s premature births.
A condition that raises your blood pressure to a dangerous level and can cause blood clots. A condition that can cause kidney and liver damage, brain injury, and/or seizures.
A condition that accounts for approximately 63,000 deaths of mothers every year in the world.
Those are the numbers but not the stories of the women who have lived it.
No, this isn’t my typical post. This isn’t the warm and fuzziness of motherhood. But this is real life. This caused my second pregnancy to be high-risk and put me at an all time high anxiety wondering how many weeks I could make it and if I’d avoid the NICU.
November is Prematurity Awareness Month and that is why this post is important to me because too many babies are being born too early. Too many moms’ health is at risk to bring another life into this world. Too many moms are sitting in the NICU as we speak, wondering if they’ll get to take their little one home or if that carseat will remain empty. Too many babies have significant health problems or developmental delays because of their premature birth that will follow them through their life.
So please say a prayer tonight for the mama in the NICU and say a prayer for the scared mama experiencing a high-risk pregnancy.
And if you don’t believe your prayers are enough and you want to do more, please consider giving to one of the organizations I have listed below or checking them out to learn more.
Thank you for reading and thank you for your prayers and support. I will be sharing more on my premature birth story throughout November so stay tuned.
*I am a March of Dimes Ambassador so if you have questions about their organization specifically, please message me. If you are experiencing a high-risk pregnancy or if you have had a premature baby and you are scared to get pregnant again and have questions, please reach out to me too!
Sources:
https://www.verywellfamily.com/premature-birth-facts-and-statistics-2748469
https://www.preeclampsia.org/faqs
Organizations to Give to:
March of Dimes –https://www.marchofdimes.org/index.aspx
Hand to Hold – https://handtohold.org/
Graham’s Foundation – https://grahamsfoundation.org/
