Johnny is a father of a preemie, born at 30 weeks. I recently met Johnny via Twitter (@johnnyb4577) and have been impressed with his desire to reach out and connect with other preemie dads, so if you one, go follow him! I really appreciate Johnny's story because it brings me back to my NICU days, read his story below to get a good taste of what its like being a working dad with a baby in the NICU.
Hello my name is Johnny Bowen Jr and I am the father of a premature baby born at 30 weeks gestation on December 12, 2009. His name is Johnny but family call him Lj. Being a father of a preemie is a very hard job but the NICU team made it great. Being a preemie dad makes you open your eyes to a new world. Being a father is the best thing in the world but having a preemie for a baby is the hardest thing in the world at times. It is hard when you’re in the NICU! While my girlfriend stayed with my son I still had to go to work, but every day was a great day because I knew that my son was in good hands.
My son was born weighing 3lbs 5oz. He was born via emergency c-section due to the fact that my girlfriend’s water broke early. My son stayed inside her belly for 1.5 days before an ultrasound showed that my son was not practicing breathing and barely moving. So it was decided right then and there on the spot that he needed to come out. My girlfriend went straight from the room we were in getting the ultrasound in to an operating room getting prepped quickly for surgery. While I was putting on my scrubs to go in I was thinking what is going to happen too my son. I was thinking i'm about to be a dad. I was thinking I hope nothing else goes wrong and then I was able to come in after she was prepped and given a spinal. Unfortunately when I came in the doctors had already started without me. I remember the room being blue and cold. The nurse asked me to have a seat next to my girlfriend and she was screaming that she could still feel them cutting. So because of that the nurses lightly sedated her. After that Lj was pulled out and he let out a strong cry and I felt happy that he was born alive.
After he was born he was born he was rushed to the NICU. I stayed with my girlfriend until they told me that I could go see him. I went with my girlfriend to the recovery room where she slept the drugs off and we met our family members. While they stayed with my girlfriend I went to see my son alone. When I went into the NICU he was in a clear incubator with a breathing tube placed into his mouth. He had all types of tubes and probes on him. He was smaller than the preemie diaper he had on. The nurses came in and told me that they had to give him surfactant and that the breathing tube will come out soon. They started giving him caffeine and medications for jaundice. I had mixed feelings about my girlfriend coming to see the baby in the state that he was in. After the drugs wore off she did want to come and see the baby but by that time he was off of the ventilator and on a c-pap machine. I was happy that she got to see the baby because she was so worried.
The baby stayed in the NICU for 2.5 months. During his stay in the NICU I was in and out. I had to work until I was granted FMLA at my job. I was always in a rush to get back to the NICU. My girlfriend was able to stay with the baby. Things took a turn when my girlfriend got real sick and had to be readmitted into the hospital. I knew that it was about to get real difficult because I had to juggle my time between the baby, my job and now my sick girlfriend. My girlfriend went through some excruciating pain and a series of strong medications. I felt overwhelmed but I knew that I had to be strong for them. I hated to see her suffer with the pain. I hated that she would cry and I couldn’t fix it. I hated that I couldn’t snap my fingers and my baby was all better. Once she was better we both could concentrate on our baby. We started kangaroo care once he was able to come out of his incubator which was about 2-3 weeks. The first time I held him both of my hands covered his tiny fragile body, but I was so excited to finally hold him. As a working father I missed a lot of morning rounds and a lot of the tests but the nurses and doctors always came back to talk to me if I wanted. Time seemed to pass slowly and he was able to eat by a nasogastric tube. Christmas passed and New Years passed and we were still here. He gained weight slowly. As he got older he began to throw up a lot. He began to have a lot of heart rate drops so the doctors increased his caffeine to stop them and his feedings were every three hours. After a while we were transferred to the NICU transitional unit. He learned to control his body temperature so he was able to come out of the incubator. He was still on the caffeine at first, but then he was taken off because of his age. Doctors said that he had to let his brain learn how to control everything.
The transitional unit was nice. My girlfriend and I had 2 favorite nurses and they gave my son extra care. I was so tired but I didn’t give up. My family was important. After he was able to learn how to eat from a bottle/breast, how to regulate his body temperature, regulate his heart rate, weigh 4lbs and pass a car seat test we was able to come home with a apnea monitor and lots of medication.
Now he is about to turn 1. He was later diagnosed with GERD, some digestive issues, obstructive sleep apnea, he has astigmatism, he’s developmentally delayed and still on the small and short side. But the great news is he is home. He is growing at his own pace and a happy little one with four teeth and big smile.
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