14 weeks too soon

kvgibson21 - 03:33am May 11, 2012 EST

My daughter Kaitlyn Mary was born on December 31st 2007. She weighed 1 pound 15 ounces and was only 13 inches long. On January 5th 2008 she had to be transferred to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia because of a preforated bowel. She died three times on her way to the hospital. She was so unstable that the doctors had to perform surgery right there in the NICU. The doctors were sure she was not going to survive the night but she did. Kaitlyn had many infections that ultimately resulted in grade 3 bleeds on both sides of her brain. After these were discovered the doctors sat us down for a family meeting to tell us there was a major possibility she would have severe brain damage and that if she took another turn for the worse we would need to make a decision on further healthcare. Over those next few weeks Kaitlyn began getting stronger. She even pulled out her ventilator one night and was able to be down graded to the CPAP machine. She endured many ups and downs. For as many good days there were just as many bad. Kaitlyn had heart surgery at just over 2 pounds. And right before discharge she had surgery to fix hernias and put in a feeding tube. Kaitlyn was never supposed to survive but she did. She spent 6 months in the NICU before she came home. It wasn't always easy and we still had a lot of work. She came home on an apnea monitor and with a feeding tube. Even though she was 6 months old to outsiders she looked like a newborn. Kaitlyn had occupational thereapy, speech therapy and many, many doctors appointments. Today Kaitlyn is 4 years old and has no major helath issues. She runs, jumps, sings and plays. She loves that every year in april its "her walk" that we take part in as "Team Kaitlyn." I found the March of Dimes one day in the hospital when I needed some help and a break. I didn't understand why this happened and I couldn't protect my daughter. I am honored to walk every year with thousands of participants from all different journeys through the NICU. I hope to be voice for other preemie moms and that Kaitlyns story will inspire and give hope to others. We all have different stories but in the end we all walk for the same reason.