At 28 weeks, Alex Chadhouri had only just begun the third trimester of a deeply wanted pregnancy. It had taken her and her husband 10 years of trying to have their first child. Now pregnant with their second child, Faith, they were overjoyed.
Faith’s Premature Delivery
Then, sudden pains, a hospital visit, and the most chilling words a new parent can hear: “I don’t think she’s going to make it.” Thankfully, Faith did. She spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at UVA Health. Now a treasured 8-year-old, her and her parents’ story is one of tenacity and courage.
Offering Comfort to NICU Parents Today
Visiting the NICU isn’t easy. But Alex and Derek adjusted to an environment of alarms, ventilators, and cables to make sure they were there for Faith. Now, they visit the NICU as a family, where they offer hope, comfort, and cookies to other families in the midst of their NICU struggle.
Alex Chaudhuri: We were driving, and I just had these intense pains. They rushed me to our hospital, and they told me that I was going to have the baby right then and there.
I just turned 28 weeks. Exactly. They quickly delivered her, and then the nurse said, I don’t think this child is going to make it. It doesn’t look good. They called the NETS team to come and pick her up, and she went off to UVA.
Derek Chaudhuri: I mean, I know it’s overwhelming when you first get into the NICU, you and your other noises and the sounds, but they made it as welcoming as possible for us, and we felt like we were in good hands.
Alex Chaudhuri: When we first saw her, she was on a ventilator. That was a little scary to see with all the cords. She wasn’t breathing on her own, for starters. She was not maintaining her body heat. Sleep apnea was a major thing for her, and I know that she did have to have a blood transfusion as well. Those were some of the major things that she had to work on.
We didn’t live in the area, and that made it very difficult because we had to travel back and forth. My main goal was to be there with my baby. I wanted to be there for her just so I wouldn’t miss anything. When the doctors would do their rounds, I wanted to be there during feedings and different things like that. I stayed as long as I could. Just glued to that chair.
They had a team of doctors like Doctor Swanson. He just explained to us that we would just have to take it day by day. The two nurses, Donna and Cynthia, they made me feel like family. I felt very comfortable when I was able to leave the NICU and they would care for Faith. I felt like I wasn’t just a number at UVA.