WARNING ⚠️ LENGTHY POST BUT WORTH THE READ :

I have been a glow member since 2016 where I started my first pregnancy journey. I want to share my son’s nicu journey to any moms out there who may have seen their child go through this or who have experienced a very premature labor. This is my little boy Owen. I had an amazing pregnancy up until my 18 week ultrasound when we found out he had hyperextended knees (hence the casts he is currently wearing to this day), we found out last year he has a rare condition called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC for short). I encourage you all to do some research on it because it’s a little complicated to explain. He has AMC due to lack of fetal movement in the womb (amc is also linked to a genetic disorder but he tested negative for it). When we saw there were issues with his legs, I couldn’t help but want to blame myself for everything. Fast forward to a week or two later and I noticed having severe lower back pain but just thought it was typical pregnancy pains. When I was 23 weeks pregnant, I noticed very light discharge and there was a lot of it, I was freaking out especially once I noticed that I had just lost my mucus plug. I had my fiancé take me to the ER to make sure everything was okay. Turned out I was 5 cm dilated and was immediately put on IV medications and stayed in the hospital for a week in hopes to keep my son in the womb as long as possible. Within a few days of being emitted, I was fully dilated. At exactly 24 weeks, the dr decided it was time to get him out due to contractions starting and me being fully dilated. I will never forget just a few hours before he was born seeing over 15 specialists / doctors all telling us what the chance of his survival is and what we would want to do in case he wasn’t going to make it all while trying to stay as calm as possible. The reason why I went into early preterm labor was due to being diagnosed with a Incompetent Cervix. My son was born weighing 1 lb and 6.6 oz, in the first picture, that is what he looked like right after I gave birth to him. I had to wait 6 hours to go back into the nicu to see him. We were able to hold him and touch him a few weeks after birth. He fought for his life for 164 days in the NICU and was the oldest baby to leave when he was finally ready to come home. He was on oxygen support at home and we would have 5 appointments a week to see all these different specialists to make sure he stayed in good health. Fast forward to two years of being out of the nicu and you can see in the second picture how truly strong, amazing and beautiful he is. He is our miracle baby, we were always told that he may not make it or be able to do this or do that and he has proven all his doubters wrong. He is a healthy little boy, living his life to the fullest.

I wanted to share my sons story because I want other women who may be going through this experience to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that these little micro preemies are the true definition of a superhero. If you’re going through this, know that you are not alone. I know I felt alone going through it because I didn’t have many people I could relate to, so I want to be the person someone can relate to. Best advice to anyone going through this is to never give up, have faith and pray. Because only God let’s us witness miracles 💜💙🙏🏼