Low Birthweight (Nick was born at 4 lbs, 6 oz)

Respiratory Distress Syndrome (Nick was on a respirator to breathe for him for the first 3 days of his life)

Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA - the valves of the heart do not close the way they normally would in a full term baby, causing a hole in the heart which typically fixes with a medicine given called Indomethacine)

Jaundice (Nick had to be under lights called "Bili" lights to get rid of his jaundice which is common in preemies)

Bowel Loops (Nick had loops in his intestines from being premature which caused him to not be able to handle food which consisted of breast milk I was pumping for him. He eventually was able to handle the milk more and more)

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP - due to being exposed to high levels of oxygen, commonly, preemies develop this eye problem which can require surgery at its worst states. Nicholas had mild ROP which "resolved" itself but had to be watched carefully by a pediatric opthalmologist)

Bradycardias (Temporary cessation of breathing where they forget to breathe - and the heart momentarily stops and their face turns grayish blue. This is common to preemies and in most cases requires the parents and/or caregivers to have to pat the baby hard on the back to get it breathing again)

Inability to "suck, swallow and breathe"(This is common with preemies and is what caused Nicholas to have to stay longer in the NICU until he could suck from a bottle while breathing and swallowing)

Those were Nicholas' problems at birth. Currently Nicholas is doing great! No problems at all! During his first year of life he did have sever Croup. This was so bad with him that he had to be hospitalized two times in his first year of life.

Thanks to his pediatric otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doc) we determined that we could avoid hospitalization by not having him get sick in general, but specifically, not to get sick soon after a previous illness. This was because his windpipe was premature to begin with and Croup closes the windpipe even more, so if he got sick before it had a chance to heal from one Croup episode, he would eventually close his windpipe completely - causing him to be hospitalized as before. This meant that he could not be around children , per his doctor's orders. This was unfortunate and very upsetting - but the way it had to be. So we got a nanny that watched (still does) him in our home to avoid him being around other kids in a daycare setting. Once other abnormalities in the trachea were dismissed, he was able to play with other children.