Nico Twice The Birthday Celebrations: Nico’s NICU Story

“We had our list of names narrowed down to 6 or 7, but we thought we had several weeks left to make the final decision. I was keeping the names a secret from family, but planned to share the top 3 with a close friend who would give honest, impartial feedback and help us choose.

The following appeared in the Saint Barnabas Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Family Advisory Council’s Winter 2021 Newsletter.

“We had our list of names narrowed down to 6 or 7, but we thought we had several weeks left to make the final decision. I was keeping the names a secret from family, but planned to share the top 3 with a close friend who would give honest, impartial feedback and help us choose.

At 30 weeks and 1 day, I woke up at my usual time for work – but was just not feeling well. I’d been rundown the past few days and even texted my manager the night before that I was probably not making it in to work on Monday morning.

I tried to go back to sleep but a few moments later, labor started really quickly and I was soon yelling for my husband. I hadn’t even packed my bag yet – that was on the to-do list for the following weekend. Somehow, I pulled together contact lenses and extra pjs and we were off.

The first thing I remember at Saint Barnabas Medical Center (SBMC) was a nurse saying, “We’re giving you medicines to try to stop labor. You’re going to stay with us here until you have a baby, and that might be several weeks”. She was very calm and reassuring, but even without labor pains I had a strong feeling our baby was not going to wait. A few hours later, I was headed into an emergency c-section.

Nico in the NICU and now at 16 months old!

Nico in the NICU and now at 16 months old!

My husband Lee was amazing at not passing out during the surgery, and he followed our baby and the team to get him stabilized while I went to the recovery room. After a few hours, I was awake and I heard our little one was doing OK. I couldn’t get out of bed yet… but I could text my friend. “So we need to speed up the timeline on the name feedback… my baby arrived early today!” I could keep this one part of my day lighthearted in contrast to all the worry and drama at the hospital. My friend promised to have the name review complete by the next morning. Once she did, Lee and I got to look at our baby and decided he should be called “Nico”.

The recovery and NICU nurses were so helpful and reassuring at every step. It’s a scary yet beautiful gift to see your baby’s development almost 10 weeks before they are supposed to enter the world. In addition to some breathing issues and frightening desaturation events, Nico had an infection 8 days in, and needed a ventilator for several days and then lower-level breathing support for weeks after. The nurses and doctors walked us through each step and decision in his care. Additionally, the NICU Family Support Group helped me process and make decisions about how to spend time at the hospital, handle my recovery, and choose whether to go back to work after my own recovery while Nico stayed in the hospital.

After several weeks of very slow improvements, Nico received a blood transfusion. While this wasn’t the first line treatment to try for his conditions, it ended up being the right one and the turning point for him. Within a few days, his desaturation episodes began to get better. He was gaining weight and improving all around. Soon, we could start transitioning him from a feeding tube to bottle and within a few more weeks he was ready to come home, just a couple days before his original due date. A few weeks later, we were at the Miracle Walk, to benefit the SBMC NICU, feeling the love from all the other NICU grad families, reuniting with the SBMC doctors, nurses, and staff.

Nico is almost 18 months now and thriving. Although in 2020 there are no group toddler soccer lessons, he can throw and kick the ball and is ready for next summer. He loves music, books, and playing outside. And, we get to celebrate his birthday twice every year, on his birthday and on his due date birthday, with an extra party in the middle for his homecoming anniversary.

Special thanks to the entire SBMC NICU team for getting Nico off to such a strong start, to the NICU Family Coordinator, and to all the other grad families in the SBMC NICU Facebook group for creating the community and friendships we have today.”

- Anne

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