NICU Reunion

 On Sunday, April 6th, we attended our first Cook Children's NICU Reunion.  I think they had planned on it being outside, but it was unusually chilly and drizzling rain, so it was held indoors.  They had food, face painting, a bounce house, arts & crafts, and they were giving away prizes.  Evin was too little for most of it, but we did enjoy going and seeing other NICU graduates.

The invitation for the event said that we could bring a posterboard including pictures and the story of Evin's NICU stay.  They display a few posters in the main hallway of the NICU and rotate them out every week or so, and I remember very well standing & reading them while we were there with Evin.  It was comforting to read about babies and families that had gone through what we were going through and to see where they were now.  

Of course, I waited until last minute to make the poster, but I think it turned out ok.  I don't know why I didn't think to get a better picture of it before we dropped it off, but this is the best I got.

 

This is what the text on the poster says:

We joyfully welcomed Evin Kate on March 20, 2013 and enjoyed our time in the hospital with her, having no idea that she was critically ill.  We were scheduled to be discharged when she was 2 days old, but that morning as the nurse was conducting her normal newborn tests, she noticed that Evin’s coloring was off.  She checked her oxygen saturation and it was in the mid-80s.  That day, Evin was rushed to Cook Children’s and diagnosed with several congenital heart defects.  Evin’s defects include: Double Outlet Right Ventricle, Severe Pulmonary Stenosis, Atrial Septal Defect, and Hypoplastic Branch Pulmonary Arteries.  We were shocked and heartbroken that our tiny baby girl was born into this world fighting for her life.

Evin spent several days in the NICU leading up to her first surgery to place a BT shunt at 6 days old.  Post-surgery, she spent 6 days in the PICU, and then she moved back to the NICU to learn to eat again.  It took nearly 2 weeks for Evin to start gaining weight, and we were discharged when she was 24 days old.

Evin had a catherization and her full repair surgery at 5 ½ months old and did wonderfully.  We went home after just 1 week in the hospital.  Evin shouldn’t have to have another surgery until she is in her teens.

Our lives changed drastically when we found out our sweet Evin was born with a broken heart.  Our now 1 year old has bravely endured more in 6 months than most people do in a lifetime.  We are so proud of our happy, sweet, sassy & STRONG heart warrior!

Dropping the poster off.

 If it brings even the tiniest bit of comfort to another family then it was well worth making!

Several of the other posters that were left.

It wasn't long before Evin was ready for a snack break.  They provided hotdogs, chips, lemonade, and cupcakes.  Evin's favorite part was the hotdog bun. :)

 The part of the reunion I was looking forward to the most was seeing some of Evin's doctors and nurses, so I was disappointed that we only saw 2 of her nurses!  We saw one from afar, so we didn't get to talk to her, but we did get to chat with Stephanie, who was one of our favorites!  She was Evin's nurse several times when we were working so hard on getting Evin to eat and weaning her from the methadone.  She was so sweet and we could tell she really loved Evin. 

Not a great pic of Evin, but it's the best we could get at the moment.

There were some therapy dogs hanging around, so Evin gave them some pats.

Sad, but I think her favorite part of the whole thing was the fish tank.  :/

A few weeks later the Cook Children's NICU Facebook page posted pictures from the reunion, so I was able to snag these pictures that the photographer took.

Thanks for a fun afternoon, Cook's!