The Price of Miracles

I found this article, ironically, in the Providence Journal online this afternoon. It's about premature babies at Women and Infants, something I've suddenly experienced very closely in the past week.

It's been a hard week with Annika in the hospital, but we are realistic about her condition. There are many reasons to feel blessed, despite her illness. She will be home Sunday or Monday. She is strong and in good health. In the NICU, this is great news.

I saw more than a few families immediately confront a fragile newborn and weeks or months in the NICU. The parents of these babies must make critical and wrenching decisions daily. They must also endure a slow vigil in which progress is measured in grams and milliliters and days, during which the setbacks are often greater than the successes.

Before this week with Annika, I'd never seen babies so small as some of her neighbors. By comparison, she's fat, pink, and alert --- and still spent more than a week in intensive care. It's a hard place to be, to have to return to every day. This article provides a little window into it.