Raising funds & AWARENESS for premature babies. My twin niece & nephew were born 17 weeks early. Baby Grace passed on to heaven & Adrian has been fighting strong in the NICU.
My family and I were ecstatic when we learned my sister Jenni and my brother-in-law Danny were pregnant with twins this past summer – not to mention it was going to be a boy and a girl! Everything came crashing down when her water broke at just 22 weeks gestation. We were told that at 22 weeks, chances were almost nonexistent for either baby to survive. She was able to hold off labor until she made it to a little over 23 weeks but on the night of November 18th, we knew the babies were coming. I happened to be spending that night with her at the hospital and so many emotions overtook both of us. When they took her into labor/delivery, I immediately started frantically “googling” so many different things but the most important thing I looked for was: what is the earliest age that a baby can even be born? I knew around 40 weeks was normal, but I had no idea what would happen if a baby was only 23 weeks developed.
On September 11th at 4:15am & 4:17am Grace Charmaine and Adrian Xavier were born at just 23.4 weeks gestation weighing less than 1.5 pounds each. Grace lived for almost an hour before she made her journey to heaven. She is now our sweet angel in heaven watching over her brother.
Adrian is still with us, fighting strong in the NICU at Lutheran General Hospital. He has been in there 75 days as of January 31st and has overcome so many obstacles already, including infection and surgeries. Despite all of the hardships, he still opens his eyes and looks right at you. Regardless of having a ventilator tube down his throat, he still manages to smile and giggle. He is projected to be in there for another couple months. Every hospital stay is expensive, and it is no different for a super premature baby – let alone a stay of hundreds of days.
Jenni and her husband Danny are both Chicago Public School teachers. Jenni needed to take an unpaid, extended leave of absence to be there every single day that Adrian is in the hospital as well as whenever he can come home therefore Danny has taken on the financial responsibilities for their family. Any support for Adrian and for his angel sister Grace is beyond appreciated. This is also to help spread awareness of preemies and micro-preemies – as I myself had no idea this world even existed until my sweet nephew and niece were born 17 weeks early.
