Birthdate: September 14, 2005
Weight: 2 pounds, 8 ounces
Height: 15 1/4 inches
Harrisburg, PA

Needless to say, I was terrified since I was just under 6 months along but the nurses and my doctors made everything seem hopeful. My doctor gave me steroid shots to help my baby's lungs grow in case he was to be born early. I was put on bed rest and stayed in the hospital for the next ten days. I was sent back and forth from the delivery floor to the regular rooms, praying that my son would not come out until his lungs were nice and strong.”

“On my tenth day there, I didn't even know I was having contractions until the nurse checked my belly monitor and 'Surprise' - I was 5 centimeters dilated already. Too late to try to stop my son from coming out so I was rushed to a delivery room. I was in shock and really upset, but the midwife on call was so reassuring that I knew everything would be okay.”

“From the time I was told I was 5 centimeters to the time my son was actually delivered was only 4 hours. By that time I really felt the contractions! Sandy delivered my son and he came out with a healthy cry but was so teeny tiny. Only two and a half pounds! I got to see him for a second before the team of nurses and doctors rushed to the next room to work on him. The one thing that kept me going was the fact that he came out crying his little lungs out.”

“By the time we got to see my son it was almost midnight. Those were the three longest hours of my life. When my husband and I went to the NICU to see my son, he was on a respirator and most of his tiny body was covered in tubes and tape. I was afraid to hold him because I thought he would break but the nurse insisted I do (and I'm so glad she did). I broke down right there. He weighed nothing in my arms, his head was in the crook of my elbow and his feet didn't even touch the tips of my fingers.”

“My son Jeffrey was only on the respirator the first night, after that he kept pulling the tubes out of his nose and was doing well breathing on his own. We got to take him home less than two months later and a couple of weeks earlier than expected. Thank God for my doctors and the nurses who helped me those 10 days while I was confined to bed rest in the hospital and while my son was in the NICU…it is because of the medicine, knowledge and love they provided that my son thrived the way he did.”

“He is now a healthy two-year-old with absolutely no problems except the occasional temper tantrum. Looking at him now no one ever would guess he was three months early. Thank you!”