November is Prematurity Awareness Month
I have been blessed in my life to know lots of premature babies. Many of my friends have had premies. I have had two premature babies myself. Many of these children have flourished under the care of experts who worked tirelessly to ensure a happy, healthy future for them. Many do not. Our son, Phoenix Jude, was born on April 11, 2008. He was born in the 27th week of gestation. He and I had already been in the hospital for several weeks by that point on a long term maternity ward (something I didn't even know existed until this point in my life). I had developed extremely high blood pressure and eventually my son had to be born in order to try and save both of our lives. Phoenix weighed one pound and 12oz. He was on a ventilator and a feeding tube and catheter and every other supportive device you can think of. He was just 12 inches long at birth. He had a lot of challenges and, after three days, he succumbed to these and died on April 14th, 2008. I still love hi