What is the Preemie Ride?

The Preemie Ride is a self-appointed journey to better understand and manage the trials that come with having a premature baby. Whether the baby is 5 or 15 weeks early, the stress and worry that accompanies that unexpected delivery, and time spent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) still affects the parents. Despite the time baby spends in the NICU, parents can be affected in a way that sometimes they do not even realize until after baby is home and experiencing amazing growth. After having two micro-preemies of my own, I decided I wanted to talk about my experiences out loud. So, one day in the midst of all of the crying, worrying, and array of emotions I felt after birthing my second little preemie, I began to claim the Preemie Ride as my personal journey. The desire to share my hiccups, insecurities, stressors, joys, and more led me to start this project, which may reach others who can relate to my story.

I have had both the pleasure and displeasure of giving birth to two micro-preemies, seven years apart. Pleasure, you ask? Yes, the pleasure of being able to bring life into this world and witness the growth of a fetus outside of the womb. And the displeasure? The pain of watching my babies fight for their life, and being limited in how I can help or care for them. You also may be wondering, what in the world is a micro-preemie, aren't all premature babies the same? Well, not exactly. A premature baby is any baby born before 37 weeks gestation, with the level of prematurity varying with respect to the time the baby is born. In comparison, a micro-preemie is a premature baby born prior to 26 weeks gestation. For more information, check out this article that explains the difference. Both of my children were born prior to 26 weeks. My son was born at 24 weeks, and seven years later, my daughter decided she had to beat him and only baked for 22 weeks.

As you might imagine, birthing two children who are barely developed is extremely stressful. In an effort to offset the stress, I had to claim the journey and make it as positive an experience for me as possible. When my son was born in 2015, I referred to our experience as The Preemie Ride retrospectively. It was just a name I gave to our journey to acknowledge the ups, downs, twists, turns, and unexpected dives, loops, and at times even reversals we had experienced during his time in the NICU, and some time thereafter. It felt as if we were on a constant rollercoaster for the first year of my son's life, despite him being released from the hospital after a 4.5 month stay in the NICU. So, when our daughter was born prematurely in 2022 we knew what was ahead, and it felt necessary to really claim The Preemie Ride as my own. So, here we are. Here I am, attempting to put into words my experience with prematurity and the many ways it has changed my life. Thank you for visiting, and welcome to The Preemie Ride. I hope you stay a while.