• Skip to content
  • Skip to footer

PreemieWorld

Supporting Preemie Parents and Preemie Professionals Worldwide

  • Home
  • Preemie Resources
    • Preemie Directory
    • Preemie Freebies
    • Preemie Community Calendar
  • Store
    • PreemieWorld eStore Cart
  • Preemie Newsletters
    • Subscribe: Preemie Family
    • Subscribe: Preemie Pro
    • Subscribe: Preemie Family 4 Pros
    • Subscribe: PW e-News
    • Archive: Preemie Family
    • Archive: Preemie Pro
  • Preemie Walls
    • Preemie Angel Wall
    • Preemie Prayer Wall
    • Preemie Pride Wall
  • About
    • PreemieWorld Mission
    • Deb Discenza
    • Jenny McCormick
    • Nicole Conn
    • Speaking Engagements
    • Press Coverage
    • Partners
    • Press
    • Press Releases
  • Contact
    • Media Kit
    • Submit to Preemie Calendar

November 16, 2015 By Deb Leave a Comment

PREEMIE UPDATE: Joy Degl

In our November edition of our Preemie Family newsletter we learned about Joy Margaret Degl, who was born at 23 weeks and weighed in at 1 lb 4 oz., and was in the NICU for 121 days before going home. Read more in an update by her mother, Jennifer, below. 

IMG_4492
In the NICU, Holding Joy

by Jennifer Degl, Joy’s Mother & Author of From Hope to Joy

My pregnancy with Joy was difficult from the start. After having three healthy boys and two miscarriages in the mix, we found out we were pregnant with our fourth baby. The bleeding started right away and I was diagnosed with 100% placenta previa, which later (after my first of four life-threatening hemorrhages) turned out to be placenta percreta.  I was in and out (mostly in) the hospital on bed rest, while receiving countless blood transfusions, from 17 weeks gestation to 23 weeks gestation, when my daughter was born at 1 pound and 4 ounces (575 grams).  Aside from almost losing my own life, we almost lost my daughter numerous times, due to the many complications of prematurity.
Daddy'sHand
In the NICU, Connecting with Daddy
It was not easy to balance my busy household, full of my sons (ages 7, 5, and 3 at the time), and my required pumping and NICU visitation schedule, but we all made it work. I cannot say we all came out unscathed, but we are stronger because of what we went through as a family.  During Joy’s 121 days in the NICU, she received more medical interventions than most adults will ever have to go through, including countess X-rays, blood draws, heel pricks, blood transfusions, blood infections, intubations/extubations, antibiotics, a PDA, ROP, and BPD.

Joy is now a super happy 3 year old who loves to play with her brothers and wears a tiara every day! Wouldn’t you?  Aside from 3 major

Jen's Book, A Must-Read
Jen’s Book, A Must-Read

rehospitalizations caused by respiratory viruses (post-NICU), Joy seems to have overcome almost every obstacle put in front of her. Her milestones were all reached a bit later than the average baby, but they were all reached!  She suffers from chronic lung disease and takes steroids twice a day, every day, to keep her lungs from getting inflamed, and suffers from asthma-like symptoms, but I’ll take it!

Joy is my inspiration.  Just the other day she looked at a photo of me holding her in the NICU and then asked why she was in the hospital. I tell her that she was born too soon and was too small to come home right away. She responds, “That’s silly, look how big I am now,” and we both giggled!

Jennifer Degl is the mother of four- including a 23 week micro preemie and author of From Hope to Joy: AMemoir of a Mother’s Determination and Her Micro Preemie’s Struggle to Beat theOdds. For more information on Jennifer’s book, or to make a donation to an organization that supports prematurity awareness or NICU families, please see http://www.micropreemie.net. You can also connect with Jennifer at www.facebook.com/jenniferdegl and http://www.twitter.com/jenniferdegl

Photo Credits:  Degl Family

Sign up for our FREE subscriber-only Preemie Family print newsletter here.

Sign up for our FREE subscriber-only Preemie Professional print newsletter here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Deb's Blog Tagged With: 23 weeks, 575 grams, antibiotics, asthma-like symptoms, author, bed rest, blood draws, blood infections, blood transfusions, BPD, Chronic Lung Disease, extubations, From Hope to Joy, heel pricks, intubations, Jennifer Degl, Joy Degl, Joy Margaret Degl, milestones, NICU, NICU families, NICU visitation, PDA, placenta percreta, placenta previa, post-NICU, preemie, preemie family, prematurity, prematurity awareness, respiratory issues, ROP, steroids, x-rays

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Footer

How long were you able to provide your preemie breastmilk?

Results

Welcome to the PreemieWorld Store

Your cart is empty, please check out our products in the Store!
Visit The Shop

Tags

"little man" baby blood transfusions BPD Chronic Lung Disease early intervention feeding g-tube hospital IEP IVH Kangaroo Care milestones NEC Necrotizing Enterocolitis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nicholas Nicole Conn NICU NICU Graduate OT oxygen parent parents PDA physical therapy Preeclampsia preemie preemie parent preemies PreemieWorld premature baby premature infant prematurity reflux rollercoaster ROP RSV sensory sensory processing disorder speech therapy strabismus therapy twins ventilator

Buy Our Book NOW!

Copyright © 2008 - 2019 · Digital Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This site uses cookies and follows the policies of Akismet. Find out more.