The staff at The Mount Sinai Hospital of New York has been wonderful to my sister and niece. They have given Anastasia the care she needs 24/7. The nurses of NICU are blessed. They have been very informative to all relatives that have asked any questions. Theses nurses have dozens of newborns they have to care for each and every day and each mother expects one on one care for their own child. This puts the nurses in a precarious situation, but still they perform 100% professionally. For the care they are providing my niece Anastasia with I commend each and every one of you. Imagine for a moment if you will a child entering this world as a full term healthy baby. The special handling that a newborn needs is priceless. Now think for a moment a child coming into this world 2 to 3 months early. Think of the medical attention they'll need every second of the day every day of the week. It is nonstop. The machines that make them healthy and keep them alive can be so intimidating to all of us. Then as the days pass then the weeks, your newborn is striving to survive, you start to become educated about each and every one of these miracle machines. Being in a level 3 NICU is about as "Intensive Care" as you will get. Monitors are every where. Alarms are sounding every where. Doctors, Nurses, Technicians, Parents, and Visitors are every where. And of course Newborns are every where. These beautiful children are all in NICU for one reason or another. Anastasia was born early and know one can say why. The doctor tells us that if they knew why she was born early she would win the Nobel Prize for Medicine. It's a mystery why preemies are born so early. In some cases it's the baby saying something is wrong in here and I must come now. In my sisters case there was an apparent infection some where. When tests were done and the results came back they showed an infection and the doctor decided to take the baby then and there. The doctor tells us that had she waited she could have lost mother and child. Anastasia was born by caesarean section and she was born yelling. This was a good sign because her lungs were apparently developed enough because of a shot of Steroids my sister received the day before or that same day I don't recall. As the days passed following her birth we were all on pins and needles because we were all so scared of what could happen. The doctors kept telling us that she is doing well but would not comment any further at that point. The doctors had explained to us that Anastasia will have her good days and her bad days. She immediately started loosing weight as we were told she would. She went down to 1 pound 5 ounces. When she gained her first ounce we were all overcome with joy. One little ounce meant so much to us. More importantly it meant so much to Anastasia. She was now feeding on mothers milk and gaining weight so desperately needed. We learned that she was having a hard time digesting the milk and was taken off the milk and was now taking water which she was able to digest. I'm not quite sure how long she was off the milk but very soon thereafter she was back on milk and able to digest it. Each day brought new good news. Today Anastasia, although still in the hospital is doing just wonderfully. Please enjoy the rest of my site.
I would like to extend my gratitude to all family members and friends who have visited Anastasia in the hospital and for giving Kathleen the support she so desperately needs during this time. To everyone who has called our family to offer their support as well. And I especially would like to thank all of the prayers Anastasia has had read for her each Sunday in Mass.
