Today, March 23, is a day marked “Recognizing the Courage and Commitment of Parents of Premature Babies”-

A summary from the website:

Nearly 13 million babies, or about 10% of total worldwide births, are born prematurely each year.  Nearly one million infants die each year as a result of pre-term birth, or about 28% of all deaths that occur within the first month of life.

 When a baby is born extremely premature, parents find their world turned upside down, sometimes faced with life and death decisions, while facing an uncertain future for their baby. Experts are just beginning to understand the intense psychological effects that a premature birth has on the parents.

 We are launching the first-ever Parents of Preemies Day to continue to build support for parents by recognizing the courage and commitment it takes to stay strong and resilient when premature birth turns a family’s world upside down.

http://parentsofpreemiesday.org/main.html

I am not posting this to recognize myself (that would make me lame), but to recognize all other preemie parents, those who stayed even longer than we did in the hospital, those who endured the what-ifs and the constant doubt, those who were told bad news day in and day out, and especially to those who fought so hard for their preemies, only to never be able to take them home.  It is such an emotional time for any parent…