Oooh Child, Things are Gonna Get Easier!

Today is World Prematurity Day.  Did you know that?  I got up, and got dressed.  We went to a benefit breakfast for one of Joe's former students..I wore purple.  We sat at the table and talked to a parent of one of Joe's students.  She asked how old Maura was..."She's not a year yet, right?"  Yes.  She is.  I explained our story in an annotated version.  She told me her son was a 32 weeker.  As time goes on, it doesn't go away, this preemie/CHOP/epilepsy business...it's still here, and I'm reminded of it often.

I look back at myself in the NICU now.  How naive I was.  They told me we could call Early Intervention when we got settled at home.  I thought to myself that we wouldn't be needing them for long...that since Maura was coming home, things would get better!  She carries her preemieship with her.  Her delays are immense.  She is doing things in her own time.  I really never thought she's wait until she was 18 months old to start walking...and I was often reminded of it as we watched many younger children pass her in milestones by the dozens.

The whole thing seems like a blur.  In ways, I've come to deal with it, but it doesn't go away...It's become part of us, this preemie business.  It always will be!