Eight weeks early to the day, her water broke - nesting became straightening a hospital room; kick counts not for fun or bonding, but for safety; onesies ranging premie to three months shipped in from Amazon & hand washed in the sink.
Three weeks & two days later, an emergency C-section after decreased fetal movement brought Curtis Ryder Jenkins into a world he greeted with silence. His first skin-to-skin left bruises: Eight agonizing minutes of CPR & immediate intubation. Strange hands trying to save his life just as it started.
Steven followed Curtis while they closed Kate up, just like they’d discussed - later in Labor & Delivery, two neonatologists started listing off conditions: Chronic pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary hypoplasia, encephalopathy, all from a multicystic dysplastic kidney they'd been told was not an immense concern. Instead, his left kidney swelled to take up 90% of his abdomen, compressing his major organs into the remaining 10% - his heart, stomach, liver, bowel, & most importantly lungs.
Curtis was on an ECMO life support machine before he opened his eyes. He underwent major surgeries before his parents saw his face or heard his cries.
Their IVF miracle baby now needs one of his own - he is still fighting as hard as they did to get him here, but odds haven't been discussed; they are as unknown as potential timelines. We are unsure of what his long-term needs will be, as we are existing second-by-second.
What we do know is it will be a long, arduous road out of the NICU alone - one littered with medical bills for both Kate & Curtis. For the moment, we sit bedside, holding his hand - the one place we can touch - and pray we all make it home soon.
