T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E
Jordan recalled. “There were cords and tubes. It wasn’t the way that I wanted to see my babies, but I thought they looked pretty good. However, a picture doesn’t reflect size well because there is often no scale. So, when I was finally able to go to the NICU and see them in person, it was a shock. They were just so small. They were in individual isolettes that were keeping them warm and machines breathing for them.
Jez, worked in the NICU at CHRISTUS St. Michael during the James’ stay. “I knew I loved this couple when I met them!” Jessica said. “As a NICU nurse, you never know what you’ll walk in to when coming to work. That morning, I remember walking in, and they had delivered overnight. For most NICU parents, this area is uncharted territory, and it’s up to the nurse to help navigate them through some tough-to-
Upon Hank’s discharge from the hospital, they noticed his eye was protruding a bit from his head. “The doctors referred us to a pediatric ophthalmologist in Shreveport. He was able to look and immediately know there was something behind Hank’s eye in his head,” Jordan said. “We were sent to the pediatric ICU in Shreveport where we spent the next eight days identifying what it was and how to treat it. All the while,
One of a premie’s main issues is lung development. At this stage, they are not ready to breathe on their own. They were so red because their skin wasn’t ready to be out (of the womb). They were still supposed to be inside, growing. I keep calling the babies ‘them’ because at this stage of the pregnancy, we had not picked names yet. We thought there was still so much time left to decide, so for five days after they were born, they were ‘Baby A’ and ‘Baby B.’” Hank and Margot spent the next several months in the NICU. Hank was there three months and Margot was there four months. At that time, Mitch and Jordan grew to deeply appreciate the nursing staff who cared for their tiny twins. Jordan described how significant NICU nurses are to new, often devastated, parents. “The nurses are not only physically caring for the babies, they are involved in a tremendous amount of care for the parents. I was a mother who couldn’t quite bear the thought that she’d put her children in this position. We still don’t know why I went into labor
Margot was still in the NICU in Texarkana. They discovered a golf-ball-sized growth in Hank’s head, and he was just about seven pounds at this point. So, it was huge for his small size. It was a hemangioma, which is a mass with blood vessels running through it. About half the time, these respond well to an oral beta-blocker. The alternative was radiation. For the next eight days we stayed in the Shreveport pediatric ICU waiting to see if his would in fact shrink from the medication. It did. We were sent home, and he stayed on that medication for a year. That was followed by two years of doctor’s visits to make sure it did not grow back. This medical issue was not even related to the prematurity but can’t be skipped because it was so significant and defining in this season of our lives.” Returning from Shreveport, there was news from the NICU in Texarkana. Margot was not eating, and it didn’t look like she was going to anytime soon. “The first year wasn’t normal,” Mitch added. “They released Margot a month after Hank from the NICU, but she still
A Puritan Prayer from The Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights; Hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness, thy life in my death, thy joy in my sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my valley.
early, but there were such feelings of guilt — the instinct that I should have been able to carry them all the way so they wouldn’t have to be in this position. The nurses helped sort out those doubts and encouraged us when things seemed to get worse before they got better. Those nurses saw us through it all. We laughed a lot and cried a lot. We loved them, and they loved us.” One of their former nurses, Jessica
see situations. It really takes compassion, empathy and a lot of patience to be what the family needs during a traumatic time… Mitch and Jordan were awesome in learning and listening to the suggestions about what was best for their babies’ development. Hank and Margot are testimonies in their lives of how the whole team at St. Michael NICU love and are dedicated to giving the best care to our babies.”
had a feeding tube. They let her go home because I was a nurse and felt we could safely handle an NG tube (feeding tube through the nose). For the entire first year, Margot was tube fed. There were countless visits to feeding clinics, gastroenterologist appointments, physical therapists and swallow studies. It’s another thing no one could ever really figure out. She never took a bottle well enough to stay nourished. She
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