by Summer Hill-Vinson | Jul 20, 2015 | Emotional Health, Life after the NICU
During J’s 91 days in the NICU, I was so focused on bringing him home that I really didn’t think past the car ride home. All I knew was that things had to be better when we were together as a family, when I could really get to know the baby taken from me when he was...
by Summer Hill-Vinson | Apr 24, 2015 | Life after the NICU
Childhood vaccinations are often a hot topic these days, but so much of the discussion is about immunizing healthy, full-term babies. Is the conversation any different when it involves preemies? When my 26-weeker hit the 2-month mark, he was still hospitalized, and...
by Summer Hill-Vinson | Apr 8, 2015 | Emotional Health, Family Stories, Pregnancy & Bedrest
Before I had children, I hoped I would never need a Cesarean section. I thought I stood a pretty good chance of avoiding them. My mom didn’t have C-sections, and I have wide hips. I was young and healthy. I knew better than to write a birth plan in stone, but it...
by Summer Hill-Vinson | Mar 18, 2015 | Life after the NICU
Before J left the NICU, a pediatric ophthalmologist cleared him of any vision problems caused by being on oxygen for 10 weeks or from being so premature. His vision developed normally, and by the time he was a toddler, my husband and I were pleasantly surprised by how...
by Summer Hill-Vinson | Nov 7, 2014 | Pregnancy & Bedrest
The year after my son was born at 26 weeks, my ob-gyn suggested I see a high-risk specialist to discuss the possibility of having another preemie. Here are five things I wish I’d known when I was choosing a high-risk obstetrician, or a maternal-fetal medicine...