Oklahoma

Hello, I am Halo's MiMi. This site gives us a chance to get in touch with other parents and grandparents with premmie babies. Halie was born at 24 weeks weighing on 1 pd. 8 oz and only 11 or 12 inches long. A bennie baby was bigger than she was. Today Halie is 6 years old and doing well. She has started school doing very well. We are in Moore, Oklahoma
 

hello, i am also from oklahoma. my sister amanda had her twins at 24 weeks-one day shy of- on april 20, 2005. Both boys are doing good as of today. they have both had surgery for pda, both had ivh, one had a level 2 and the other a level 4 which has gone to a leve 3. we found out a week ago that they will be coming home in a few weeks. we found out yesterday that the one with the level 4 bleed has also been diagnosed with ROP. my sister has almost lost hope a few times, and now with the rop being the last straw i think-i am trying to help her stay hopeful that things are going to be alright but she can't seem to keep her doubts from taking over. i have seen so many wonderful miracle stories and hopefully by letting her see all the wonderful happy endings to the nicu experience it may give her some hope as well. i am expecting twins also, we were only 10 weeks apart, so i am scared not only for my nephews but also for my babies as i am not made to carry them, but all is good so far, i just realize the possibilities that i have and see what my sister has gone through then read all of the stories on the board and am amazed at what these tiny ones go through and survive. i know that not all have made it and feel truly deeply sorry for those losses and can't even imagine to think how that would be. i have had many miscarriages, and some close calls with my second pregnancy, but never lost one that late on.
my sister's boys are in the nicu in okc, i was born there 28 years ago-and have full faith in the hospital-i had a 10% chance of survival and am here today kickin because of them.

Hi.. I gave birth last year June 23,2004 to twins. i was 24 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Nathan weighed 1 pound 5 ounces and Noah weighed 1 pound 1 ounce. They both did well for a while... we lost Noah after 12 days from an infection and complications. Nathan stayed in the NICU at OU Childrens for 77 days and came home last Sept. He was pretty lucky... we had one bad scare with him and almost lost him but he really had no major complications. After coming home he had laser surgery on both eyes and his ROP has 100% regressed. He had surgery last month for bi-lateral hernia's.... but those are his major things he had done. He came off of oxygen in Feb this year.
He just turned 1 and has been crawling for over a month now... he pulls up on everything! You can see pics of him in the NICU here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/samylaine

newer photos are here
http://community.webshots.com/user/samezsilli

His new Birthday web page:
http://happybirthdaynathan.n8andnoah.com/index.html

and you can see video of him here
http://videos.n8andnoah.com/index.html

We love the doctors and nurses at Childrens and we still email them updates... they are always happy to see us! They even have Nathan on one of thier new billboard ads up here! Tell your sister I am thinking of her and her babies!

Sammie

I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I looked at the pictures and what a sweet angel nathan is. i am glad to see that he is doing well. Your story brought tearss to my eyes knowing what a hard time just having a premie is and then having to lose one, i couldn't imagine. thank you for thinking of my sister and her babies, i will let her know. by the way, what doctor is nathan with on the billboard?

Dr Sekar.... he is from India originally I think..... he is a very nice Doctor.... one of the ones who treated us so well in the NICU.... we also saw Dr Escabado alot. I just can't thank any of them enough.. Im sure their jobs are so hard.... day in and day out to try and give parents hope... but all the while having to tell them the down side also....

Hi my name is Misty. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I just recently lost a baby. She was my fourth baby. I have 4 girls and she was the fourth one. I still have three girls that are still alive. My oldest is 5, my middle is 4, my third is 22months, and the one I lost in August was 3months. If anybody is from Tulsa please let me know. God Bless and Big Hugs, Misty

We are the 2006 Oklahoma City metro Ambassador Family and I just wanted to introduce myself. Attached is a pic of the boys and our Ambassador story. I look forward to getting to know everyone here.

Brooke

How did you get the pictures on here? I have been trying to down load my girls pictures on here. I have four girls but, my fourth baby passed away in August due to surgery. I have three girls that are still with me. Big Hugs, Misty

Misty, I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your daughter. My heart aches for you. The web site is a great way to get in touch with other mothers who know what you are going through and can offer a lot of support.

I have all of the pictures from our digital camera on the computer. On the bottom of this page I hit browse to find where the pictures were saved on my computer. I'm not really very good on the computer, my husband just showed me how to do this. I hope this helps, sorry if I'm not very clear on my explanation. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

Brooke, that was a perfect explanation! Great picture

Hello. My name is Jennifer Fuller and I live in Bethany, OK which is in the Oklahoma City metro area for those of you not familiar with it. I have a 17 1/2 month old little girl who was born at 26 weeks and weighed in at 2lbs. We are currently expecting and due in March, however, the doctor informed us 2 weeks ago that helping us make it to 28 weeks was all they could do. We are just doing our best to prepare ourselves to go through the NICU experience all over again and trying to keep our little one in as long as possible. Is anyone aware of any support groups in the okc area for parents of preemies?

Hi my name is Brooke and we are the Ambassador family for the OKC metro. I have 2 1/2 year old twin boys who were born at 28 weeks, our story is attached to my first message. I don't know of any support groups right off hand but I'm sure there are some. I would suggest calling the NICU and asking them if they know of any. I will also check and see what I can find out.

Brooke

I was looking through my NICU info and I found a number for the Neonatal Parents Network of Oklahoma 949-4130. I hope this helps.

Brooke

Thank you for the explanation on how to post pictures on the web site. Since you are from OKC have you ate at Toby Keith's restaurant? If you haven't girl you need to go there and eat. His food is so good. I would like to back but, that will be a little hard on me since we lost our baby girl at the Childrens Hospital. I hope you have a good weekend. Misty

Thanks for the info. I will give them a call and see what they offer. Do you happen to know when the walk info. for 2006 will be available? We didn't get to participate last year because of a death in the family but we definitely want to this coming year.

Oklahoma City's walk is on May 6th. The info will be sent out sometime in January. If this is your first year to participate let me know, so I can make sure they get you on the mailing list.

Brooke

Hi Brooke. I was just wanting to know what is the Oklahoma City walk? If you could write me back and let me know. Thanks, Misty

WalkAmerica is one of the biggest fund raisers for the March of Dimes. They have a walk every year to promote prematurity awareness and raise money to prevent prematurity. The OKC walk is a 6 mile walk on May 6th. The walk is a way for anyone who's lives have been touched by prematurity to get involved. It's also for anyone who just wants to help raise money for the cause.

If you would like to participate let me know and I can make sure you get all the info you need.

Brooke

I think that would be great for me to do something like that. I could do that for the baby I just lost and for my 4yr. old. She was premature. She was 5weeks early and she had to have tubes put in her ears when she was 1yr. old and now it set her back alittle. I would be interested in something like that. Here is my address (823 E. 60th Place North Tulsa, Ok. 74126). Thanks for the info. BIG HUGS this holiday season, Misty

My name is Ashley and I gave birth via c-section to my daughter, Chastity on April 11, 2002. I was 24 weeks pregnant and had went into premature labor owing to a weak cervix. We were able to have steroid shots administered while attempting to put off labor a little longer, but she decided she was ready to come out despite the magnesium iv's. She weighed 1 pound and 15.7 ounces (thanks in part to the steroid injections) and was 14 inches long. She only had a 5-10% chance of survival on her first day of life and her father was told she probably wouldn't be alive for longer than 10 minutes, but thankfully she was strong enough to survive. She was on the ventilator much longer than most preemies and when she was finally moved to an isolette, she had to be placed in the back since she was so sensitive to noises and light. She was later diagnosed with aqueductal stenosis - a rare form of hydrocephalus - in the NICU and had undergone blood infusions and a spinal tap already. We were told that there was a strong probability that she would also be mentally handicapped as well as suffer from cerebral palsy. Fortunately her neurosurgeon - Dr. Francell, was able to perform a surgery on her brain that allowed her to not worry about having to have a shunt placed. The spinal fluid finally began to drain and everything was great. We were able to bring her home approximately three months after she was born and yes, she had a few set backs but nothing too serious. She was on oxygen and a heart monitor for a little over 6 months after her hospital release. She also acquired RSV and was hospitalized early on in the diagnosis. Other than that, we are very happy to have our three year old daughter who is not only able to walk and physically function just as well (if not better) as full-termers, she is also incredibly intelligent for her age. Her doctor is extremely impressed with her intellect that we were warned would probably be absent. She can recognize the alphabet and her numbers and colors and shapes. She can speak large parts of the Spanish language as well as Lakota Sioux, Hebrew (my collegiate language at OU) and Russian (her father's collegiate language at OU). They say it is typical for preemies to be "bratty" for lack of a better term, but our daughter is incredibly polite and well-mannered. She is truly our angel from above and during her stay in the NICU, we prayed and prayed and prayed for her health and well-being. There was nothing we wanted more than for her to stay alive, no matter her physical and mental capacity. Luckily the Lord has been very kind and merciful in our situation and we have nothing else to be this thankful for. I am now 33 weeks pregnant with a boy and had to have a cervical cerclage placed in order to prevent another premature birth, I also had the steroid injections at about 26 weeks just in case. I know not everyone's story is as positive as mine, but I am just giving hope to those who feel they do not have any. ANYTHING is possible and Chastity proved that!

I'm sorry I was going on about OKC and I didn't realize you lived in Tulsa. I am just involved with the OKC March of Dimes. I know that Tulsa's walk is also on May 6th. You can call them, so that they can send you the walk info 918-742-0333.

Brooke

Hey, that's okay. It's kinda hard to get a hold of the supervisor here at the Tulsa office. I guess I will try again tomorrow. Thank you again for your help. Misty

If you are not able to talk to anyone at the Tulsa office, you can register on line. Go to www.walkamerica.org and put your zip code in the Find A Walk Near You space. That might be easier.

Brooke

Thanks again for your help. When is the deadline to get registered to do the Walk America? I'll try the website later. Misty

How do I go about the fund raising money? I haven't helped with any fund raisiers yet. That's why I asked you to help me get registered in OK. City. Please write me or call me to let me know all the info. Thanks, Misty

Hi Misty!

Thanks so much for your willingness to particpate in WalkAmerica. We very much appreciate it! Just so you know, I have asked your local Division Director to contact you. You can also always feel free to call or email me with any questions. I can be reached at jsoohoo@marchofdimes.com or at 914-997-4258.

Thanks again!

- James
March of Dimes - National Office

Once you register online you can print out a sponsor page to keep track of all your donations. You can also set up a personal web page with MOD and people can make donations online. Last year I sent letters to all my friends and family telling them about our story, explaining the mission March of Dimes and why I was raising money. I gave them the option to send checks to me or go to my web page to make and online donation. You can view my web page at www.walkamerica.org/2miracles for an example. I hope this helps and good luck on your fund raising. I haven't started on my fund raising yet. Let me know if there is anything else you need help with.

Brooke

I HAVE A24 WEEK PREEMI AND I AM STILL DEVASTATED... THAKS FOR SHARING YOUR STORY...

I WOULD LIKE TO POST PICTURES BUT I DONT KNOW HOW TO.. ONCE I GET MY NEPHEWS AND NIECES (TEENAGERS)IWQILL ASK THEM FOR INSTRUCTRIONS.

Hi Isamar

To post a picture, it needs to be a .jpg or .gif

When you are posting, look at the box below all the smiley faces that says "Attachments". Click on the "browse button and find the picture you want to post on your harddrive. Choose the picture and click ok. Then after you fill in your message in the text area, click the "post my reply" button and the image will show up with your message text.