September is nicu awareness month and no, I haven’t been avoiding the topic though it does hit close to home. 

I’ve been soaking up everyday with my son,thankful I’ve been able to watch my child grow for 18 months, he’s come so far from the gray limp baby I watched be pulled from my body behind a clear drape. He’s changed so much from the child I couldn’t touch or speak to without his tachycardia and tachypnea becoming dangerous while he Laid there helpless and kept alive by a ventilator. 

That’s never how any parent wants to see their child. Definitely not what parents of an early term 37 weeker expect especially after the experience of a caesarean. 

We did. That was, is and will always be the reality of Raiden’s first 11 days on earth with us. His earliest memories were both earth shattering and precious I can still hear the beep of the monitors and the bang of the machines but I’m grateful for every doctor and every nurse for every second they spent saving my son making sure that my days at home without him were few, we are thankful. We are grateful. We are blessed beyond measure not only that he is our son but that he is here and healthy as I sing these praises and tell our story. 

The world may only recognize nicu awareness for the month of September but for us? It’s every. Single. day. 

#nicuawarenessmonth2020

• Tator, nicu mom, former nicu baby