Murphy

Child's Birth Year
1998

State/Province/Territory
Indiana

NICU Hospital for my journey
Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis IN

My NICU Graduate's Journey
Murphy was born 12/9/98. Murphy was born 13 weeks premature. She weighed 1 lb 15 oz. We had MANY scares during her time in the hospital. To the point, where a Dr told me they didn’t know what was going on with her. I APPRECIATED the candid honesty. She told me, the only thing we could do was pray. She was in the hospital from Dec 9th-Feb 15th. There were ONLY 5 days I couldn’t go see her because I-70 was closed. We live about 70 miles east of Indianapolis. The nurses told me Murphy did so well because I was over there all the time. Even after I went back to work. I went over EVERYDAY after getting off at 5:00pm. The first picture, is when I walked in on them bagging her. They were suppose to keep me from coming back there. They didn’t. I was a former EMT, so I knew what I saw wasn’t good. She was just days old. They let me bag her and took pics because they didn’t know if she would make it. (I have a few polaroids they took so I would have those memories. I do have a polaroid of me actually bagging her). As HARD as it was, I kept my cool, because I knew if I lost it, they would make me leave. IF it was going to be her last moments on earth, I was going to be with her.

What makes you proud of your NICU graduate?
She is a FIGHTER!! She has my personality, determination. She beat the odds of how this could’ve turned out. I didn’t want to believe it. When she came home, she was in therapy 5 times a week. She was diagnosed with mild cerebal palsey. Over came that. Between the therapy, gymnastics, tutoring in school. She eventually got caught up.

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
1 lb 15 oz

Weeks Gestation
27 weeks

Time spent in the NICU (Specify Number of Days, Months, or Years)
69 days (ONLY missed 5 days)