We got to meet a very special family today. The night that I delivered I remember laying in my hospital bed as our family came to see us. I remember my sister going to see Izzy and when she came back she said, "Have you seen the wall of Hope in the NICU?? There's a little girl named Valley and she was born at the same time as Izzy and weighed the same and was the same length!" She showed me the picture of the wall and I read the description of little Valley.
Immediately she gave Klay and me hope that Isabelle would be ok. I was reasurred that the doctors and nurses in the Mckay Dee NICU really could keep a 25 week baby alive! It's truly a miracle. After I saw Valley's picture I kept wondering how I could get in contact with Valley's family. I wondered what their story was, why was SHE born at 25 weeks? Did their parents have all the same feelings that we're having now?? How is she doing now? How long was she in the NICU? I had a million questions I thought would never be answered!
Well a few days ago the nurse manager and a social worker walked up to us. We thought they were bringing bad news but then the nurse manager said, "we have something really cool to tell you!" PHEW! Something cool is good. haha She told us that there was a family that was in our position 1 year ago. She said that they put together a 5K to raise money for a family that was in the NICU with a micro premie, just like theirs! WHAT!? Klay immediately asked, "IS IT VALLEY!?" haha She told us that it was indeed Valley's family and we started crying. She gave us their number and told us to call them. I then proceeded to stalk Brooke (Valley's mom) on instagram and the first picture was of their "The Littlest Valley 5K" (cue the crying...again) I looked through all their pictures and found their blog and started reading it. All those questions from the first night were finally being answered! And I couldn't believe that this sweet little family, who had already helped us so much was now going to give us the proceeds from their race to help us even more. Klay called them the next morning (as i was bawling 5 feet away) and Brooke answered the phone. She was so sweet and we set up a time to meet with them.
Flash forward to today and we finally got to meet them! They told us their story and we talked about the nights that our babies were born. It truly is crazy to feel like no one really understands your feelings from that night. It's SO different from a full term baby's birth story, even so different from a 28 week baby's birth story! But as we talked with Brooke and Wes there were so many similarities. So many feelings that I know they had felt when Valley was born, the same way Klay and I had felt when Isabelle was born. Even though their births and NICU stays are/were completely personalized and still different, those similarities that we can relate to help us so much. They were able to come see our sweet Isabelle and we were able to meet Valley! FINALLY! haha She is SO CUTE! We continued to talk and honestly I feel like I could talk to them for days and never run out of things to say. I'm so so so excited about this friendship that we've made with them and I cannot wait for Izzy and Valley to be friends!
Immediately she gave Klay and me hope that Isabelle would be ok. I was reasurred that the doctors and nurses in the Mckay Dee NICU really could keep a 25 week baby alive! It's truly a miracle. After I saw Valley's picture I kept wondering how I could get in contact with Valley's family. I wondered what their story was, why was SHE born at 25 weeks? Did their parents have all the same feelings that we're having now?? How is she doing now? How long was she in the NICU? I had a million questions I thought would never be answered!
Well a few days ago the nurse manager and a social worker walked up to us. We thought they were bringing bad news but then the nurse manager said, "we have something really cool to tell you!" PHEW! Something cool is good. haha She told us that there was a family that was in our position 1 year ago. She said that they put together a 5K to raise money for a family that was in the NICU with a micro premie, just like theirs! WHAT!? Klay immediately asked, "IS IT VALLEY!?" haha She told us that it was indeed Valley's family and we started crying. She gave us their number and told us to call them. I then proceeded to stalk Brooke (Valley's mom) on instagram and the first picture was of their "The Littlest Valley 5K" (cue the crying...again) I looked through all their pictures and found their blog and started reading it. All those questions from the first night were finally being answered! And I couldn't believe that this sweet little family, who had already helped us so much was now going to give us the proceeds from their race to help us even more. Klay called them the next morning (as i was bawling 5 feet away) and Brooke answered the phone. She was so sweet and we set up a time to meet with them.
Flash forward to today and we finally got to meet them! They told us their story and we talked about the nights that our babies were born. It truly is crazy to feel like no one really understands your feelings from that night. It's SO different from a full term baby's birth story, even so different from a 28 week baby's birth story! But as we talked with Brooke and Wes there were so many similarities. So many feelings that I know they had felt when Valley was born, the same way Klay and I had felt when Isabelle was born. Even though their births and NICU stays are/were completely personalized and still different, those similarities that we can relate to help us so much. They were able to come see our sweet Isabelle and we were able to meet Valley! FINALLY! haha She is SO CUTE! We continued to talk and honestly I feel like I could talk to them for days and never run out of things to say. I'm so so so excited about this friendship that we've made with them and I cannot wait for Izzy and Valley to be friends!
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