Mother discusses experience during National NICU Awareness Week
FRANKLIN, Ky. – Sept. 30 is NICU Awareness Day, the last day of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Initiative Week.
According to the March of Dimes, the Bluegrass state is in the top 20 states for preterm birth rates at 11.7 percent.
“She was born March 12th, 2021. She was born at 32 weeks exactly at four pounds, four ounces,” said Kayla Lawrence, a mother of four.
Lawrence said she too was in the NICU when her baby was born and recalls the moment she laid eyes on her daughter Eden, who was attached to many things.
“She had little leads going into her umbilical, so I wasn’t able to pick her up or hold her, and it broke my heart. It was leaving her there and not getting to hold her because of that uncertainty,” she said.
Little Eden began to fight a tough battle for a tiny warrior.
“She had a brain bleed. She was jaundiced, she couldn’t regulate her body temperature, and she couldn’t eat,” her mother said.
As the days went by of watching her baby from afar, Lawrence finally got the chance to embrace her little fighter.
“I went to see her, and they let me hold her and that helped a little bit, but it didn’t make anything different with leaving her every day for three weeks,” Lawrence said.
She said prayers and patience is what got her through the tough moments.
“It really took strength from God and Prayer. Knowing that I had so many people praying for us and I actually met a lady outside of the hospital and she came up and told me that God told me that my baby was going to be okay. She had no idea who I was or why I was there and told me God told me to let you know that she’s going to be okay,” Lawrence said.
Faith in God is what carried her then and now.
“She’s now 5 years old, and she’s healthy, and she’s so smart and so funny,” she said.
Lawrence said if she could say one thing to the parents experiencing the NICU nights and are scared of the outcome, it would be, “Pray and pray and pray and know that God’s got you right where you’re supposed to be and that we’re going to make it, you’re going to make it and just keep your faith, and your hope that it’s going to be okay.”
