Max Max’s NICU Story

We are, and will always be thankful for all of the medical interventions during the last 10 days of my pregnancy and Max’s 77-day NICU stay at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center!

“We were thrilled to find out we were pregnant in July of 2020. I was a healthy 31-year-old-woman and was told my pregnancy was considered low-risk. I followed every suggestion in the pregnancy guidebooks and my baby boy passed all of his tests in utero, indicating that he was a healthy baby along the way. That's why doctors were so shocked when they discovered I was already three centimeters dilated at only 26 weeks into the pregnancy. My body was preparing to give birth months before a baby is usually considered able to survive outside the womb without intense medical interventions.

Max leaving the NICUThe day after Christmas, after 10 days on bedrest in the hospital, with my husband sleeping in a chair beside me, our son Max was born! He was three months premature and weighed just over 2 pounds. He stayed in the NICU for 77 days following his birth. Max is a fighter. He fought through anemia, apnea and bradycardia spells, two blood transfusions, two holes in his heart, and a very, very slow weight gain. Max was discharged at 38-weeks gestational age but did have to have several follow-up visits with a physical therapist and a cardiologist. They both felt that Max was progressing normally and doing well, especially after his Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and Patent foramen ovale (PFO) closed on their own with time.

Max in the NICUToday Max has come a long way from his birth at 27-weeks gestation and is a healthy 17 month old who likes wearing shoes, watching Cocomelon, eating mashed potatoes, playing with remote controls, giving hugs, and giggling with other babies. We are, and will always be thankful for all of the medical interventions during the last 10 days of my pregnancy and Max’s 77-day NICU stay at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center!”

-Max’s parents