Julie

Child's Birth Year
2021

State/Province/Territory
North Carolina

NICU Hospital for my journey
Mission Hospital and Chapel Hill

My NICU Graduate's Journey
Julie was born with the rare, and in-utero undiagnosed, Vaters syndrome in Asheville NC. She had no rectum, hydrops, and an anatomy they wouldn’t figure out for a month. She almost died many times, mostly because of an esophagus in pieces and the sick tissue from hydrops. A few early life saving surgeries and one ostomy bag later, Julie was stable enough to be transported to Chapel Hills NICU where she would finally be diagnosed. We stayed for a month for more surgery and stabilization. Mom quit her job and stayed with her. At one point the sickest baby in the NICU, she is now the strongest four year old around. Besides lingering bowel issues ( so will still require Huggies for quite awhile), people would never believe the fight my little preemie fought before she was even supposed to join us on the outside.

What makes you proud of your NICU graduate?
Her intelligence and inner fight. She is four years old and has a better sense of direction than I do. She creates actual architecture out of magnitiles. A four year old with the brain of an engineer is beautiful and terrifying.

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
6.0 lbs

Weeks Gestation
33 weeks

Time spent in the NICU (Specify Number of Days, Months, or Years)
2 months