Have you ever had a friend whose circumstances are so overwhelming that you are exhausted just from imagining yourself in their shoes for a moment? Melissa Overy is one of those friends. And yet it’s difficult to say whether her determination or smile is her most admirable quality as she blazes a trail for her young boys with the weight of the world on her shoulders. “Indomitable” is the perfect adjective to describe her as one of her preemies is actually named “Dom.” At the playground you can see him and his older preemie brother, Aidan, as two happy, rambunctious boys jumping, climbing and running. But at home you will encounter his bleach baths, tubes and feeding pumps. We all agree that raising young children is challenging, but raising medically fragile children as a single mom must be completely overwhelming. But not for Melissa. She takes each day in stride and is not afraid to glance off at the the horizon often too. Each week consists of full-time employment, part-time education, single motherhood, specialists appointments, fevers that require emergency room visits, G-tube maintenance, and somehow even time as a Helping Hand volunteer at Hand to Hold. Below you’ll hear about this incredible mom in her own words.

Hi. My name is Melissa and my Christmas miracle, born 6 weeks premature, is Aidan. I was 17 years-old when he was discharged from the NICU. For five years Aidan surpassed expectations and overcame every obstacle. He was in great health while I was starting to question my own. An ER visit revealed that pregnancy was the source of my physical discomfort, but it’s the emotional pain I remember most upon hearing that it appeared to be ectopic. Two weeks later a second ultrasound confirmed that there was no growth in my uterus so a procedure was scheduled to terminate my pregnancy. [Read more...]