A Monthly Gift of Gratitude
It should have been one of the happiest times in their lives. Mia and her husband were expecting their first child and were so excited. Early on during Mia’s pregnancy, they learned that their baby was quite large considering the baby’s gestational age, “but that wasn’t really a surprise,” Mia laughs, “my husband is 6 foot 6 and was an 11-pound baby!” Aside from some additional ultrasound appointments, Mia had a normal pregnancy and the couple couldn’t wait to meet their baby. “I needed to be induced due to complications with preeclampsia, and ultimately I was required to have a C-section.”
Their baby girl, Ina, was born three weeks early and weighed nearly ten pounds. “Since she was a big baby, she was tested right away for blood sugar,” Mia remembers. Ina was tested within an hour of being born and her blood sugar was undetectable. “She was severely hypoglycemic,” explains Mia, meaning her sugar (glucose) levels were too low. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the brain and the body. Ina was immediately admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the St. Catharines hospital, where she spent the next 31 days. Mia tries to focus on the moments of light and joy when she thinks back to Ina’s first few terrifying days. “Everyone was so helpful. I couldn’t even hold my baby without help, but I got to be with her at the NICU whenever I wanted. The nurses’ support really mattered. They helped me to hold my baby, feed my baby. They helped me figure out how to be a mom.”
Ina quickly became famous in the NICU as the biggest baby there and the one with the loudest voice. “It was really funny because the nurses in the NICU don’t usually deal with such big babies,” Mia smiles at the memory. “She was strong and thriving, strong enough to pull out her tubes… she knew very early on what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to show us, even during those first weeks of her life at the hospital.”
After trying several different approaches, Ina’s doctors found the right combination of medications that stabilized her blood sugar and Mia finally got to bring her baby home. It was discovered that Ina’s blood sugar challenges are caused by a chronic condition due to a genetic mutation. She has routine appointments and her blood sugar is tested daily but, thankfully, it can be monitored and controlled with medication.
More than eighteen months have passed now since those first weeks in the NICU. Today, she is an independent, feisty and fearless little explorer who loves to run, climb and swim.
To show appreciation for her daughter’s care, Mia became a monthly donor to the Niagara Health Foundation. “Donating to Niagara Health is directly impacting someone’s life. By donating, you’re giving my baby the chance to have a bigger crib to sleep in. You’re giving another baby the isolation unit they need. You’re giving the tools that keep a baby breathing.” During her 31-day stay, Ina went from sleeping in an incubator to a baby cot to a crib.
“All that equipment was so important,” says Mia, whose monthly gift goes specifically towards needs in the Women, Children and Babies Unit. “The nurses and the attention they gave to our baby and all of the babies in the NICU really stood out to us. Their incredibly good care is what we choose to honour. There were very scary moments but also so many moments where we had help and support.”
The early intervention made all the difference in Ina’s life and making that monthly gift is Mia’s way of saying “thank you.”
“For us, it’s a small amount we give once a month. If we all just donated a small amount, it could build into big dollars to buy life-saving equipment. Nobody wants to be at the hospital – we sure didn’t. It was crushing going home the first night without my baby and leaving her there. It brought us comfort knowing that the hospital had the tools, resources and equipment to keep her safe when we couldn’t be the ones to be there with her.”
A Monthly Gift of Gratitude
It should have been one of the happiest times in their lives. Mia and her husband were expecting their first child and were so excited. Early on during Mia’s pregnancy, they learned that their baby was quite large considering the baby’s gestational age, “but that wasn’t really a surprise,” Mia laughs, “my husband is 6 foot 6 and was an 11-pound baby!” Aside from some additional ultrasound appointments, Mia had a normal pregnancy and the couple couldn’t wait to meet their baby. “I needed to be induced due to complications with preeclampsia, and ultimately I was required to have a C-section.”
Their baby girl, Ina, was born three weeks early and weighed nearly ten pounds. “Since she was a big baby, she was tested right away for blood sugar,” Mia remembers. Ina was tested within an hour of being born and her blood sugar was undetectable. “She was severely hypoglycemic,” explains Mia, meaning her sugar (glucose) levels were too low. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the brain and the body. Ina was immediately admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the St. Catharines hospital, where she spent the next 31 days. Mia tries to focus on the moments of light and joy when she thinks back to Ina’s first few terrifying days. “Everyone was so helpful. I couldn’t even hold my baby without help, but I got to be with her at the NICU whenever I wanted. The nurses’ support really mattered. They helped me to hold my baby, feed my baby. They helped me figure out how to be a mom.”
Ina quickly became famous in the NICU as the biggest baby there and the one with the loudest voice. “It was really funny because the nurses in the NICU don’t usually deal with such big babies,” Mia smiles at the memory. “She was strong and thriving, strong enough to pull out her tubes… she knew very early on what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to show us, even during those first weeks of her life at the hospital.”
After trying several different approaches, Ina’s doctors found the right combination of medications that stabilized her blood sugar and Mia finally got to bring her baby home. It was discovered that Ina’s blood sugar challenges are caused by a chronic condition due to a genetic mutation. She has routine appointments and her blood sugar is tested daily but, thankfully, it can be monitored and controlled with medication.
More than eighteen months have passed now since those first weeks in the NICU. Today, she is an independent, feisty and fearless little explorer who loves to run, climb and swim.
To show appreciation for her daughter’s care, Mia became a monthly donor to the Niagara Health Foundation. “Donating to Niagara Health is directly impacting someone’s life. By donating, you’re giving my baby the chance to have a bigger crib to sleep in. You’re giving another baby the isolation unit they need. You’re giving the tools that keep a baby breathing.” During her 31-day stay, Ina went from sleeping in an incubator to a baby cot to a crib.
“All that equipment was so important,” says Mia, whose monthly gift goes specifically towards needs in the Women, Children and Babies Unit. “The nurses and the attention they gave to our baby and all of the babies in the NICU really stood out to us. Their incredibly good care is what we choose to honour. There were very scary moments but also so many moments where we had help and support.”
The early intervention made all the difference in Ina’s life and making that monthly gift is Mia’s way of saying “thank you.”
“For us, it’s a small amount we give once a month. If we all just donated a small amount, it could build into big dollars to buy life-saving equipment. Nobody wants to be at the hospital – we sure didn’t. It was crushing going home the first night without my baby and leaving her there. It brought us comfort knowing that the hospital had the tools, resources and equipment to keep her safe when we couldn’t be the ones to be there with her.”
