This is a reprint of an article by Reagan Wilda. For more information see Reagan's website.
Mommy's Special Preemie
Mommy told me I was born on a very special day.
I was born in the spring, even though Mommy and Daddy were not expecting me until the summer.
That means I am a preemie. Mommy tells me that preemies are very special.
I was very small. But good things come in small packages.
Because I was a preemie, I stayed in the hospital for a long time before Mommy and Daddy could bring me home.
I stayed in a place called the NICU. NICU means Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
The NICU is a place where special babies go after they are born to be taken care of by doctors and nurses.
The doctors and nurses helped Mommy and Daddy take care of me so that I could grow bigger and get strong.
The NICU looks like a scary place, but I wasn’t scared. I was very brave.
Instead of a crib, I slept in a bed called an incubator.
The incubator kept me warm and helped me breath so that I could grow bigger and get stronger.
Mommy and Daddy came to the hospital to hold me everyday. They held me like a kangaroo! It made me feel safe.
Every night a nurse would put me on a scale and weigh me to see how much bigger I was getting.
Once I was big enough I moved into a nursery with other growing babies.
After I stayed in the Nursery for a little while, Mommy and Daddy took me home at last!
The nurses and doctors said goodbye.
The NICU wasn’t so bad but there's no place like home!!!
Download the illustrated version at http://frogenyozurt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Mommys-Special-Preemie.pdf
