Molly was born on March 29, 1997 at 25 weeks gestation, she only weighed 1lb 11oz and was just 13 1/2 inches long. She wasn't able to breathe on her own when she was born, she was given steroids to help her lungs develop. This picture is Molly when she was about 3 weeks old. She is  laying next the "Cough Bear" that the wonderful Cardiac surgeon gave to her after her heart surgery.

      
Our first Kangaroo Care experience.

Because she was so early she has a neurological problem called PVL (Periventricular Leukomalacia) which can cause cerebral palsy. Her neurologist thinks that her outlook is positive, so far.  Molly had to have several surgeries while in the hospital, she had to have a PDA ligation on her heart (Patent Ductus Arteriosus), laser surgery on her eyes for Stage 3 ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity), and another eye surgery called a vitrectomy to try to keep her retinas from detatching, causing blindness.

On May 12, Molly was taken off the ventilator and was able to breathe on her own for the first time in her life. This is one of the many pictures I have of her without a nasal canula on. This is also Molly's first tub bath.

      

Molly came home on July 11, 1997 after 3 1/2 months in the hospital.

She weighed 4lbs 10oz

Molly acting like one of Melody's Dolls-8 months

Surfin' the Web-10 months

(8/8/99) It's been a while since I've updated this page, but I have heard from several relatives that it is time that I do so.  Molly is still doing pretty well, she is about 2 1/2 years old and is just learning how to crawl.  She recently had a cornea transplant, which will hopefully give her some vision in her left eye.  Her right retina is totally detached at this point.  We recently found out that she also has some hearing problems, resulting from her NICU experience.  She made need to get tubes in her ears, but we are not looking into hearing aids yet (keep your fingers crossed).  

As of 8/5/99 Molly weighed in at a whopping 20lbs 13oz.

Molly & the Lilli Nielsen Little Room-Check it out!

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