Thanks by the Letters: M

Michelle:

What kind of neighbor cleans your house, makes bed, does laundry, prepares dinners, leaves meals on the table with flowers, and then comes back to do it again a week later? MINE! Our wonderful back door neighbor, learned what was going on with us, and jumped in to help. She would let the dogs out to play and run during those LOOOONG days in their kennels. With a husband and 3 boys of her own to juggle... Michelle was really a wonderful help, when we needed it most!

Meals:

Thanks to our friends, neighbors and family who brought meals, bought meals and fed my family for so long! Troy was simply amazed when my friend Becky, from elementary school sent a meal... the same goes for my friends Christy, Michelle and Marcy... we've known one another since we were little girls.... Who knew so many people would come out and help us in such a wonderful way!? It was great to come home and have a dinner other than McDonalds or pizza every evening. We were able to catch up with the kids, have some normal family routine time and get them to bed with healthy food in their tummies. You have no idea what a blessing this really was!

Margaret Meier:

She's the Director of Nursing for the NICU and she really helped me to advocate for Max. She helped to set up the primary nursing care to give him some consistency and she let me know each week, who would be with him. It helped me to feel like things were under control, so I could relinquish some control and go home to sleep! She helped find additional resources when his was suffering, because of his ostomy bag and infection, etc... Margaret is a mom herself, and she understood that I never stopped worrying or pushing to make sure he was getting the very best of everything. Thanks Margaret for letting me push the limits when it came to Max and his care. You and your nurses were wonderful!

MRI:

We are so grateful for that final MRI. Before a NICU baby leaves the hospital, they have an MRI of the brain. Max had a small brain bleed in his early weeks. The MRI showed us that bleed had completely resolved, that his brain appeared to be normal at this point. It's not a guarantee, but a great sign that he's on the road to developing normally.

Morgan:

My little friend. I know Morgan from our former lives in non-profit work. I've shared hand-me-downs with her for Greyson, who is younger than Alex, and we've shared coffee. But when Max was born, Morgan was my first line of defense. I called her from the hospital and she was up there the next day. Morgan is also a NICU mom. She came back to that NICU, for the first time to help us. She brought a whole folder of information which Troy brought to me on that first full day. She told us how to get started on this journey, what to expect, and how to survive! That folder was our survival guide starting off. I still have it, crammed full of information and lists and more to keep us going.

Morgan had to go through a bit of PTSD herself to come back to the NICU. But she did it, bringing me coffee, and meals and helping me navigate things when I was so completely lost in all the chaos.

Morgan came through again when we needed breast milk. She was actually our first milk donor. When we talked about Max's need for breast milk and my dwindling supply she offered to pump for Max. She was weaning Greyson, and would store the extra milk for us. It's what got me started investigating donor milk, what was safe, milk banks, and eventually we found Nicole. We used Nicole's milk first, because it was from a newborn mommy. Both Morgan and Nicole went through all the lab tests ordered by the NICU to make sure their milk was safe. Once Nicole's supply of milk was gone, we used Morgans to help finish off Max's NICU stay. It's a gift that helped Max survive and grow strong and healthy so he could come home. We couldn't ask for anything more.

We continue to share hand-me-downs with Morgan, back and forth now, between 3 boys ( Alex, Greyson, Max) and soon, Morgan will be adding another baby... I wonder if we'll share again???