WEBVTT 00:00.930 --> 00:03.289 We moved here when I was pregnant , I 00:03.299 --> 00:05.889 was seven weeks pregnant . And then one 00:05.900 --> 00:09.479 day I had went and got my 23 week MFM 00:09.489 --> 00:12.449 check . Everything was great . And then 00:12.460 --> 00:14.689 two days later , I was sitting on my 00:14.699 --> 00:16.755 couch and I thought , oh , I must be 00:16.755 --> 00:19.549 having Breton Braxton Hicks , I somehow 00:19.559 --> 00:21.781 managed to walk to the garage where dad 00:21.781 --> 00:24.790 was . So we got in the car and came to 00:25.010 --> 00:25.520 Bamy . 00:31.059 --> 00:33.281 They had me on the bed and , you know , 00:33.281 --> 00:35.337 I had the nurse over here telling me 00:35.337 --> 00:37.392 everything's gonna be ok . I had the 00:37.392 --> 00:39.337 doctor telling me , you know , his 00:39.337 --> 00:41.503 breach , we're gonna have ac section . 00:41.889 --> 00:44.270 Um , you gonna have the neonatologist . 00:44.520 --> 00:47.029 Here's what your statistics are . Do 00:47.040 --> 00:50.590 you want to resuscitate ? And I said , 00:50.599 --> 00:53.970 yeah , after all of the getting to , 00:53.979 --> 00:56.201 you know , the operating room and doing 00:56.201 --> 00:58.509 the C section , we heard Tyler cry and 00:58.520 --> 01:00.520 I said everything's gonna be ok . I 01:00.520 --> 01:02.853 looked at dad and said he's gonna be ok . 01:02.853 --> 01:06.690 But the next day , um , it was hard , 01:07.449 --> 01:09.505 it was hard . It was hard the same . 01:10.120 --> 01:12.779 And , uh , from there we started the 01:12.790 --> 01:15.959 countdown 446 days . 01:18.040 --> 01:18.610 So 01:24.400 --> 01:26.599 the first time I got to hold him . It 01:26.610 --> 01:30.160 was um 32 days after he was born . Um , 01:30.169 --> 01:32.860 he wasn't having it that day . He said , 01:32.870 --> 01:35.300 no , not today . Mom . So I said , OK , 01:37.029 --> 01:40.290 so the whole NICU like everybody in the 01:40.319 --> 01:42.652 NICU , all the doctors , all the nurses , 01:42.739 --> 01:45.239 all the RT S , all that , everybody was 01:45.250 --> 01:48.709 in there . And uh I got to hold him 01:49.410 --> 01:52.029 something in my heart . I guess that my 01:52.040 --> 01:54.096 gut just said things are gonna be ok 01:54.096 --> 01:55.984 just to have patience as the days 01:55.984 --> 01:57.984 progressed . We had some really bad 01:57.984 --> 02:00.680 days where we didn't think he was gonna 02:00.690 --> 02:03.050 make it . So when we hit milestones , 02:03.059 --> 02:05.220 everybody celebrated , it wasn't just 02:05.230 --> 02:07.449 mom and dad . It was everybody , you 02:07.459 --> 02:10.169 know , and being able to come off the 02:10.179 --> 02:13.419 vent . It was so huge because we never 02:13.429 --> 02:15.596 thought he would be able to , at least 02:15.710 --> 02:18.250 for the time being , you know , he 02:18.259 --> 02:20.426 eventually wound up back on it on full 02:20.426 --> 02:22.919 life support and it was 1030 at night 02:24.080 --> 02:27.139 and it was the , uh , it was the P A up 02:27.149 --> 02:30.449 in the pu and she said , uh , 02:32.979 --> 02:35.410 we've been doing CPR for 12 minutes . 02:36.559 --> 02:38.726 Do you want us to continue ? And all I 02:38.726 --> 02:41.100 could hear in the background was come 02:41.110 --> 02:44.309 on , Tyler , come on , Tyler , you've 02:44.320 --> 02:46.639 come too far , Tyler . And I said yes . 02:46.649 --> 02:49.899 And I headed to the hospital and uh 02:51.630 --> 02:53.741 two days later he came out of it like 02:53.741 --> 02:55.963 it was nothing like it didn't even faze 02:55.963 --> 02:58.130 him . That's what the Nikki was like , 02:58.520 --> 03:01.669 you get to the top and then you , you 03:01.679 --> 03:03.735 go back down and then you get to the 03:03.735 --> 03:07.360 top . A roller coaster is a very , such 03:07.369 --> 03:10.589 an understatement , but it's the ride 03:10.880 --> 03:12.824 and how you ride it . And that was 03:12.824 --> 03:14.991 Tyler . He would always look at me and 03:14.991 --> 03:17.500 I'm just , ok , we're gonna do this . 03:27.929 --> 03:29.040 You're going home . 03:36.000 --> 03:36.380 No . 03:41.160 --> 03:44.940 Ok . We get home and it was 03:44.949 --> 03:48.580 surreal because nobody including myself 03:48.589 --> 03:50.756 and dad thought he was gonna ever come 03:50.756 --> 03:52.756 home . It was kind of chaotic . You 03:52.756 --> 03:54.922 know , we would be like , ok , we have 03:54.922 --> 03:56.589 all this equipment . We had a 03:56.589 --> 03:58.533 ventilator and suction machine and 03:58.533 --> 04:00.700 oxygen tanks and pulse oxes and ostomy 04:00.700 --> 04:02.949 bags and supplies everywhere . And it 04:02.960 --> 04:06.949 was definitely um scary . We were 04:06.960 --> 04:10.550 used to having the hospital staff . I'm 04:10.559 --> 04:14.350 scared . 123 , 04:17.019 --> 04:19.130 good job . That's kind of it . That's 04:19.130 --> 04:21.750 it . Hey , 04:24.200 --> 04:26.311 he doesn't have a tr anymore . And he 04:26.311 --> 04:30.109 got his tr out on March 1st of 2023 . 04:30.709 --> 04:33.079 He is walking , 04:33.839 --> 04:37.140 talking eating , he's spelling , he's 04:37.149 --> 04:39.589 counting . He started running one day 04:39.600 --> 04:42.350 down the hallway in the house and I 04:43.250 --> 04:46.109 almost fell to the floor because he was 04:46.119 --> 04:49.730 running . He has low tone uh cerebral 04:49.739 --> 04:53.029 policy , but you can't tell . And I've 04:53.040 --> 04:55.262 always told him in the NICU , I'm gonna 04:55.262 --> 04:57.429 take you swimming one day and he loves 04:57.429 --> 04:59.596 the pool . Um and he started preschool 04:59.596 --> 05:02.149 this year , which was amazing . It was 05:02.160 --> 05:05.070 amazing for him . He just took off . 05:09.149 --> 05:12.739 Terrible . You got it . 05:12.750 --> 05:16.480 Bobby . Good job . 05:18.459 --> 05:19.820 You skip a last year . 05:22.750 --> 05:23.899 Good job . 05:28.380 --> 05:32.019 I , I could not have survived 05:33.869 --> 05:35.250 the NICU without them 05:38.799 --> 05:40.966 while they were saving my son's life . 05:41.880 --> 05:45.049 They were saving mine because 05:45.820 --> 05:47.931 every day I would walk in there , I'd 05:47.931 --> 05:50.042 have to put on a mask . I have to put 05:50.042 --> 05:52.209 on a face and then I get in my car and 05:52.209 --> 05:54.431 I sit there for 30 or 40 minutes before 05:54.431 --> 05:58.250 I even left , let it all out . And I 05:58.260 --> 06:01.200 counted the happy with them and every 06:01.209 --> 06:04.839 hug , every time they pulled me up , 06:06.750 --> 06:09.083 they reminded me that life is such more , 06:09.083 --> 06:12.459 it's more precious . The doctors , I 06:12.470 --> 06:16.119 can't even , they're amazing . They are 06:16.130 --> 06:18.297 amazing human beings . The nurses that 06:18.519 --> 06:21.880 they are my heart , they are my heart 06:22.260 --> 06:24.619 because the way they cared for my son 06:24.630 --> 06:26.686 and not even my son , I watched them 06:26.686 --> 06:29.269 cared for other kids . I've never seen 06:29.279 --> 06:32.890 so many people in one room with so much 06:32.899 --> 06:36.640 heart and they were tired , they were 06:36.649 --> 06:40.029 tired . They were just pushing through 06:40.040 --> 06:43.429 every single day . It was like watching 06:43.459 --> 06:46.660 a whole army rush to the 06:46.670 --> 06:50.640 battlefield with full armor on and put 06:50.649 --> 06:54.579 on this just amazing 06:54.589 --> 06:58.290 display of love . They are the reason 06:58.299 --> 07:01.130 that my son is alive today and doing so 07:01.140 --> 07:03.619 well . And even when it seemed 07:03.630 --> 07:07.350 impossible , they made it 07:07.359 --> 07:08.119 possible .