This was a verse that my family and I have turned to many times over the past few years. My name is Brittni Page and I live in Pikeville, KY with my husband Kolbe, beautiful daughter Hadley and dog Murph. After suffering two miscarriages my husband and I were elated to find out we were expecting a beautiful baby girl on October 5th, 2018. At 20 weeks I started to develop severe swelling and, shortly after, high blood pressure. I was admitted to Pikeville Medical Center on Saturday August 28th where I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia, I received two steroid injections and was hoping to be able to be monitored inpatient until delivery. My condition worsened and I developed HELLP syndrome, I was transferred to Baptist Health in Lexington, KY where my daughter was born on August 2nd at 10:09PM via c-section at 30 weeks and 6/7 days. Hadley weighed 2lbs 11oz and was 15 inches long. And thats where my NICU journey began.
Hadley Grace Page spent 49 days in the NICU and was discharged to come home with us on September 19th. When starting our NICU journey we were terrified. Terrified of all the alarms, the cords, the machines, the medical jargon, etc. Ive worked in a pediatric clinic for four years and even that could not have prepared me for what I was about to have to endure. We were blessed that we had few major obstacles that we had to overcome, one of the biggest was not being able to go home as a family.
I believe when you find out your pregnant you have a vision of all the things your pregnancy and delivery will bring. You never really think that you will be spending more than 2-4 days in the hospital. You especially never think that you will have to go home at night without your baby. My husband had to come back to Pikeville to go back to work the day I was discharged. I was blessed to be able to stay with my brother and sister in law who lived 15 minutes from Baptist Health. My daily routine would begin at 9am where I would arrive to the NICU and stay till 9-10PM at night. Even after staying the entire day and being exhausted I still would feel guilty for leaving. My husband visited on the weekends, coming on Friday evening and having to leave on Sunday afternoon. This is where the NICU nurses literally became family.
NICU is one if the hardest things you will ever have to do. I went through every emotion possible. I was hysterical, anxious, angry, thankful, blessed. As hard as it was God truly sent those nurses to help us through. They, along with the amazing physicians, educated us, celebrated with us, worked through the hard times with us. They never failed us.
When being alone in a place like the NICU its so nice to have people to reach out to, and the Early Bird Foundation provides that for so many NICU families. We are thankful that they touched our family during our stay. They spend their time giving back to families during their most difficult journey and the world is a better place with people like them in it. I would encourage anyone that is placed in a very hard position having a baby in the NICU to utilize the Early Bird Foundation and their resources.
Since returning home we have developed our own routine and a somewhat normal life. We still have fears and worries but we are placing our trust in God and praying he continues to provide for us and keep our amazing miracle girl safe.
Join us as we continue to pray for the Page family as they adjust to life at home and the leftover fears and anxieties that often follow a NICU stay.
Early Bird Foundation, Inc. 