A few months ago, while trying to go to sleep, my mind was not ready for bed. At the time I had been reflecting a ton on sweet baby Will's NICU stay. I'm sure someone has made this connection before, but while lying in bed, this came to me. I've been meaning to share this for a while, so hopefully I remember everything I thought of.
The Purple writing will be Will's experience, and the Green writing will be the spiritual connection I made.
Our sweet Will entered into this world on July 2nd, at 26 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 15 ounces. Because of his size and prematurity, Will was placed in this 'incubator', as shown below.
We each left Heavenly Father, so new and young without our previous knowledge, and were placed on this earth which I likened as an incubator.
For several weeks, we were only allowed to look at him through this glass. When we were able to touch him, we were to touch him with gloves on, and only briefly. We were not to stroke him, just place our hand, or finger, on him.
Heavenly Father isn't able to be here physically with us. So he sends the Holy Ghost,like the glove, to briefly touch our hearts in times of need to show his presence and love.
When Will was 2 weeks old, he had a PDA ligation surgery. This surgery left a scar under his left arm. He also has scars on his hands from the IV's that were placed there. These scars will always be apart of Will, as will being a Preemie. But, these things will not always define him.
Through our lives, we have experiences that may cause us to repent and leave 'scars' on our hearts. These experiences will always be apart of us, but they will not define us.
As loving parents we watched Will daily through the glass, full of hope and faith that he would grow into a healthy little boy. Will had his good days, and his bad days. It sometimes seemed as if we were on an endless roller coaster.
Our Heavenly Father watches us from Heaven daily. Watching us make decisions, and full of hope and faith that we will make the right decisions.
For 3.5 months of the 4 that Will was in the NICU, he had a feeding tube. For 2 months it was a OG(oral) for complete or majority feedings, and the remaining was a NG(nasal) for only partial feedings. As he learned to eat on his own, he only needed partial feedings through the tube.
While we are young, we were fed our testimony through our parents. Once we gain our own testimonies, we no longer need to thrive off of our parents.
Will had the most loving, kind, admirable nurses by his side everyday, watching him and taking care of him. We were so so lucky, we loved each and everyone of them!
Through our earthly life, Heavenly Father has given us loving friends and family to help us to reach eternal life.
Although Will was in his incubator, he still got sick. During his 4 months, he had pneumonia, sepsis, UTI, and another infection. Each and every time, Will's body strengthened and fought each sickness, becoming stronger.
We were sent to earth to learn. While we are learning, we sometimes make wrong decisions, but we repent and promise to not do those things again.
After 123 days, 4 months, in the UVRMC NICU, Will was able to finally come HOME. As parents, this was the happiest day of our lives.
Our Heavenly Father longs for the day that we can come home to Him. He loves us each dearly, and wants us to be able to live with Him again. The day we go 'home' will be the happiest day of His life for us.
