Friends of Maddie - Supporting Families Supporting Babies

Maxwell was born septic with the eColi virus two months early at 11:07am EST on Sept 5, 2008. At 3:30am the following morning we were awakened by the nurse practitioner telling us to hurry and come to the NICU, as it didn’t look like Max was going to make it. Nurses were scurrying everywhere asking if we wanted his picture taken, did we want him baptized and about a gazillion other things I’m sure I can’t even remember. There were so many doctors and nurses surrounding Max’s bed, all with extremely worried and sympathetic looks on their faces. I thought I was going to collapse.

The head of neonatology happened to be the doctor on-call that night and I’ll swear on my own grave, the man is a miracle worker. He asked if we might submit to a treatment that he hadn’t tried on a baby so small before, but was desperate as a last resort. (The treatment was giving Max a shot of O2) We agreed.  

When we first got to our baby’s bedside, he was as yellow as a manila folder. 15 minutes later he was pink. I am crying right now as I write this, just remembering. We witnessed a miracle that morning.

To this day, our son is known as Miracle Max.

(He is also a miracle because he managed to make us part of the .001% of whom the birth control pill doesn’t work! My husband had literally just started school for his MFA in Scenic Design at Penn State less than a month before Max’s sudden birth. Needless to say, we hadn’t planned for a baby as he was about to enter a rigorous 3 year program!)

We spent the following month in the NICU. We were fortunate to have the most amazing neonatologists and nurses, but it was also such a lonely and scary time. (This is one of the biggest reasons I love what you’re doing in reaching out to new NICU families- had we known even a quarter of the things we know now, I might have spent one less night crying myself to sleep. To provide facts and support to new families is such an incredible gift.)

I think our NICU experience was probably like most- lots of ups and downs. Once Max had gotten to the ‘feed and grow’ stage, his dad went back to classes part time and I lived in the Ronald McDonald House and stayed with Max.

We were able to take him home one month after the day of his birth. A day I’ll never forget! He works with a physical therapist once a week and is now a thriving 20 pound, Army crawling, gabbing, climbing and walking (with help) miracle. One month to the day after he came home with us his father was diagnosed with testicular cancer and then had surgery and chemo. Yet another reason he is our miracle. (There’s a possibility we may not be able to have any more children after the chemo. So by having Max when we did, I truly believe it was ‘someone’ telling us we were meant to have a child- just sooner than later!)

If there’s anything I’ve learned through the NICU and cancer experiences, it’s that the support of others will get you through. It’s good to know you’re not alone. So thank you for helping others with FOM. I hope our family’s story can help the cause as well.

~Angie