09/04/2026
💜 Stories from Our Village: NICU Awareness Month Series
Chapter 1: The Journey That Built Our Village – Ashlynn's Story
Growing up, all I ever wanted was to be a mom. I had baby names picked out before I was even out of elementary school, and when I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't stop smiling. My husband and I were overjoyed and immediately started dreaming about our future with our little one.
While the beginning of my pregnancy was fairly smooth, our family experienced heartbreaking loss when my husband's mom passed away unexpectedly while I was just two months pregnant. She had texted me not long before saying she had dreamed we were having a little girl—and she was right. Sadly, she never got the chance to meet her first grandchild.
Around 20 weeks, my blood pressure began creeping up. At first, we were told to monitor it, but by 28 weeks it had skyrocketed to over 200/100. I remember taking it several times because I thought the machine had to be wrong. It wasn't.
I was admitted to the hospital immediately and placed on magnesium to help prevent seizures. Three days later, I was transferred to a hospital with a higher-level NICU and placed on strict bed rest. For 18 days, my husband and I lived one day at a time, hoping we could keep our daughter safely where she was. Eventually, the doctors told us my blood pressure could no longer be controlled, and she would need to be delivered immediately.
Because of the magnesium and the urgency of everything, I didn't get to see or hear my daughter after she was born. She was rushed to the NICU while I recovered. I'm incredibly grateful my husband was there to be with her and to capture those first moments in photographs, because I wasn't able to experience them myself.
When I finally met Lizzie two days later, she was surrounded by monitors, tubes, and alarms. Every beep made my heart race. Even after she came home, I could still hear those sounds in my sleep.
One of the happiest moments of my life came on Thanksgiving when I finally got to hold her for the first time. After a week of only seeing her through the walls of an incubator, holding my daughter felt like the greatest gift I had ever received.
Like so many NICU families, our journey wasn't without setbacks. One of our biggest challenges was feeding. Lizzie struggled, and every bottle felt overwhelming.
One day, I was feeding her when her oxygen levels suddenly dropped. Within seconds, what felt like the entire NICU team rushed into our room. They had to help her breathe and use a manual resuscitator to stabilize her.
I remember sitting there afterward feeling like I had failed as her mother. I cried for hours in the NICU and all the way home, wondering why I couldn't do something that seemed so simple.
From that point on, my husband handled almost all of her feedings while we were in the NICU. I would only try when a nurse was standing beside me. Even after we brought Lizzie home 58 days later, I was terrified. My husband fed her for those first few days while I slowly worked up the courage to try again.
Nearly two years later, I still carry that trauma. I still experience PTSD surrounding feeding, and I won't feed my nieces or nephews because the fear is still there. It's a reminder that while NICU babies eventually come home, parts of the NICU stay with parents long after discharge.
Today, it's hard to believe Lizzie is the same tiny baby who fought so hard. She was lovingly nicknamed the "Mayor" of the NICU because she was one of its longest residents. We watched so many families come and go, wondering when it would finally be our turn.
Now she's a happy, healthy little girl with a big personality and the beginning of the terrible twos. Every challenge we faced helped shape the family we are today.
Our NICU journey changed us forever.
It taught us resilience, gratitude, and the incredible importance of having a village. That journey is the reason She's Got a Village exists today—to make sure no NICU family has to walk this road alone. 💜
