Rambling Rhodes

Of course they're common. But every one is unique.

I hope you are EATING. Also, you might try melatonin for sleeping -- it's not like a sedative, you can clear most of it out by looking at light.

Congrats on the birth of your daughter.

I'm the father of triplet daughters who are 10 years old.

They were born at 25 weeks, all together they weighed under 6 pounds.

Crazy pregnancy that necessitated a medivac flight from Detroit to Good Sam in Phoenix -- as you say, if you could spend $5k right now just to improve your daughter's chances 1%, you would. I did the same ($15k for the medivac flight, worth every penny and then some).

Also, your pov on abortion is spot on. People are kidding themselves when they say a fetus isn't viable at 24 weeks, or 21 weeks, whatever. I was no big anti-abortion zealot previously, but once you hold a 24 or 25 week old infant in your aarms and watch them grow, you realize abortion at the end of the day is slaughter and nothing more.

My daughters came home on oxygen and heart rate monitors and going anywhere meant I would have a car seat in each hand, two oxygen tanks on my back, and heart rate monitors hanging off each shoulder - my wide had the same set-up for the thrid daughter. really crazy when I think back.

Today, all three are growing, healthy and happy, (although one does have serious developmental issues due to the severe prematurity). Can't stress enough how important is is to stay on top of the docs as your daughter grows over the next few years to make sure any potential developmental issues are headed off early. However, don't go crazy thinking about it -- all of my daughters had some kind of physical, development, etc... therapy at some point in the past, but they're doing great today.

Best of luck and thoughts are with you!

The key is to cherish the moment