By Amy George
As I sit down to write this article, I am bleary-eyed and exhausted.
Did I run a marathon? Did I scale a mountain? Did I tackle the pile of laundry waiting for me in my closet?
No.
I celebrated my daughter’s 5th birthday.
I don’t mean the party. That’s coming in a couple of days.
I mean Ann Catherine’s actual birthday.
You know how it is with children. You just want every moment of their day to be special and perfect. And by the end of the day, you can’t even remember what day it is.
And you know what?
Being tired has never been so much fun. Five years ago today, I didn’t know if Ann Catherine would live through the night, much less make it to her fifth birthday.
She and her twin, Melissa, were born a staggering 14 weeks early at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children. They were immediately taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where Melissa died only two and a half hours later.
In the bed next to her, Ann Catherine was fighting to live. She weighed only one pound, fifteen ounces. A ventilator was helping her breath. Her body was tiny and frail. I could count her ribs as she took each breath.
Each day she got a little stronger. She eventually came off the ventilator. Her feeding tube was removed. She was moved from an open warmer to an isolette, then finally, a crib. And 68 days after she entered this world so incredibly sick and fragile, she came home. It was the happiest day of our lives.
Photo by Jeff White Photography
The 5th annual Swim for Melissa and Miracle Bash is August 13-14. We’ll kick off the weekend with the Miracle Bash on Friday night at the Davidson Center. Guests will enjoy dinner, live and silent auctions and dancing to the tunes of the Tyrone Smith Revue (aka “Super T”), the #1 dance and show band in the South for more than 30 years (they even performed at Jenna Bush’s wedding reception!).
Then, the fun will continue on Saturday, August 14 at Swim for Melissa at Hampton Cove Pool. Children ages 4-15 are invited to raise money for Melissa’s fund and hit the water in a non-competitive swim. We are currently signing up teams, so if your child loves to swim and you want them to take part, call Susan Ready at Huntsville Hospital Foundation at (256)265-9451 or email her.
Right now, the NICU at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children is filled with babies whose parents are just as scared as Chris and I were five years ago. These parents can only live day to day. They aren’t thinking of a fifth birthday. They’re just hoping their child makes it through the night. By supporting Swim for Melissa, you can give these parents hope. We hope to see you there!