Preemie Spotlight - Leighton Marie

On April 6, 2013, my husband and I found out we were expecting our second child. Unlike my first pregnancy, I was super nervous about my pregnancy, even though everything was looking great in the beginning. We found we were having a girl and couldn't be happier. On July 24, 2013, at about 18 weeks pregnant I woke up and quickly realized I was bleeding. I had an ultrasound done and was told I had placenta previa (my placenta was low lying). On August 24, I was bleeding and having contractions so I went into the hospital. 

Leighton Marie was born on August 31, 2014 weighing 1 lb 10 oz. 

The staff in the NICU at Women's and Children's Hospital in Mobile, Al was amazing!  They were comforting during the hardest time of our family's life. 

During our 3 1/2 month stay at the NICU, we had a ton of ups and down. There was a lot of taking one step forward but then taking two steps back. Over all Leighton did an amazing job in the NICU. She had one major scare during the first week of her life. Her stomach was extremely swollen. She was very close to having colostomy surgery. If she had the surgery, she would most likely have a colostomy bag on her stomach for the rest of her life. That was a scary time, but I was mostly thankful that she was alive. The doctors ended up finding a plug in her stomach and removed it. I'm very thankful that she does not have to have that health problem for the rest of her life. She, of course, had problems with her breathing, many heart rate drops,  and problems with holding her temperature.

Our time in the NICU was an extremely trying time but the staff at the NICU, especially the nurses, made it less stressful. We are so thankful for the care they provided our miracle baby girl. She is now a very happy and healthy, just small, almost 1 year old.