Stronger Than We Thought – A Poem for Preemie Parents

STRONGER THAN WE THOUGHT
DEDICATED TO MY FELLOW NICU MOMS AND DADS
BY: KALEENA BERRYMAN (Mom of Jharid, 24 Weeker Miracle)
www,praying4mypreemie.com

We often look back on the day our lives changed
And it’s hard to recall how we did it
How we loved the smallest child we’d ever seen
From their first moments, our hearts committed
To their tiny noses and beautiful eyes
Frail fingers, we could barely touch
Filled with moments, and dreams, all their “first times”
Something so fragile, yet loved so much

Without question, without hesitation
Without pausing – there’s no time to rest
‘Cause while most moms go home with their babies
We all went home with our biggest test
We learned medical terms, medications
We read monitors, not lullabies
We learned to listen for alarms ringing
Instead of our baby’s soft cries
While most mothers dread all of the vaccines
Meeting colic or baby’s first fever
We are hopeful for sniffles and teething
Glad to trade our worries for either

As we share our babies with nurses
Instead of close family and friends
Watch the day pass as we watch our children
For we have to leave them when it ends
Trying daily to make the best of it
We make friends, plan showers, buy gifts
All the while in our minds we are screaming
There is nothing normal about this!

Though we dare not cry out in our weakness
We don’t want God to think that we doubt Him
For He promised that He’ll answer prayers
And we can’t make it through this without Him
In the NICU there’s no intermission
Introduction; the coaster’s not mild
Plus you never thought so much equipment
Would ever be hooked up to your child

But no lesson in life lasts forever
With one season, another begins
One day you will notice that their frailty
Seems to be coming to a slow end
Now you’re holding your baby, there’s feedings
And you notice they smile when you sing
The CPAP is no longer needed
And the monitors no longer ring
It’s as if they decided in their own time
That’s enough of this darn NICU stay!
And you’ll notice that determination
Will be with them the rest of their way

Yes, the last few months were long and weary
The emotions were so out of hand
It’s a feeling you’d never imagined
One friends and family can’t understand
It was your special journey, your experience
And now you and your child can both heal
You accept God chose you for a miracle
And you know for yourself God is real
Here’s to all of the amazing NICU parents
And our babies who from day one, fought
Now we know that we, and our children
Are so much stronger than we first thought

Poetry from Praying4MyPreemie
Kaleena Berryman is a preemie parent poet, who has written hundreds of poems for preemie families across the globe. This poem is one of many in her book, “Stronger than We Thought: Poetry for the Preemie Mom’s Journey”. If you would like a  personalized preemie journey poem written for your child, email praying4mypreemie@gmail.com or Learn more here: https://praying4mypreemie.com/order-a-preemie-poem/ and see samples below!

 

On the Day You Were Born, from the book Stronger Than We Thought: Poetry for the Preemie Mom’s Journey. Download from Amazon onto any computer or electronic device!You do not need a kindle or nook to read electronically.