Liliana’s normal, boring day turned upside down when her water broke – just 25 weeks into her pregnancy, she was terrified that she might lose her baby. At London Health Sciences Centre, doctors administered the Mercer protocol, starting antibiotics to stave off infection and steroids to boost her baby’s development. However, although Liliana’s water had broken, she had not started labour, and when it became apparent that her baby wasn’t coming soon, she moved into the antenatal wing. For weeks, Liliana and her husband Michael lived on edge as their care team weighed whether to induce labour or not. While the baby was still inside, he could keep growing, but without the protection of the placenta and amniotic fluid, he was more susceptible to a dangerous infection.
Life on edge in the antenatal wing turned to life on edge in the NICU. Although the extra month had helped Socrates grow and develop, he still needed help breathing. With CPAP support Socrates remained stable, but Liliana recalls how, for the longest time, they didn’t know what their son’s face looked like with the mask obscuring it. Every needle prick to draw blood from Socrates’s tiny veins made him cry out, breaking his parents’ hearts.
Throughout the many long days and tense nights in the NICU, Liliana and Michael were comforted by dozens of tiny gestures, from volunteers bringing Socrates stuffies and blankets to nurses writing funny notes on his chalkboard. “There’s a special place in heaven for all the incredible nurses there,” Liliana says. Under the expert care of those wonderful nurses and the neonatal team including Dr. Han and Dr. Cheng, Socrates passed every test and hit every milestone — something for which Liliana and Michael feel “very lucky.” With the help of bili lights and his incubator, Socrates grew stronger every day. Two months after he was born — the very day he was originally due — Socrates got to go home. After three months at Children’s Hospital, the transition to home care proved challenging. Without the beeping of machines that they’d become accustomed to, Liliana and Michael had a hard time relaxing. Liliana says that, at first, she was getting up every 15 minutes to check if Socrates was breathing.
Once the family settled in, Socrates never looked back. He went to regular follow-up appointments at Children’s Hospital until he turned 3, and that was it. Socrates hasn’t had even one complication, and in fact, Liliana says that he was even advanced in his language skills, something preemies tend to lag in. Before long, Liliana and Michael were chasing around an energetic Socrates. He gained a love for everything construction, to the point that Liliana nicknamed him “my little backhoe.” “You’d never know he was a preemie,” she says. “He’s also a little rascal.” Now, every time the family drives past Children’s Hospital, they feel a rush of positivity and optimism. “We are so lucky,” Liliana says. This holiday season, you can support more families like Socrates’s with a gift, and have it help even more than you know. Thanks to the Charabin Family Match of up to $50,000, a gift of $50 becomes $100, and a gift of $100 becomes $200. Think about how many lives would be changed as a result. Hope lives at Children’s because of you. |
