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