After she gave birth to her daughter at just 23 weeks gestation, one mom took to social media to document her family's life as they cared for their premature daughter.
Through incredible side-by-side pictures, Mary Parkinson has shown the world that it is possible for premature babies to thrive in the NICU.
These pictures and updates have allowed Mary to share her family's incredible story and offer support to other NICU parents.
Mary Parkinson gave birth to her daughter, Grace, when she was only at 23 weeks gestation. Mary's original due date was April 2018, but Grace was born on New Year's Eve in 2017.
When babies are born this early, they are referred to as micro preemies.
Thankfully, she began gaining weight in the NICU. You can see how much progress she made in this photo marking her one-month milestone.
Micro preemies have extended stays in the NICU and will be hooked up to respiratory supports and IV lines for their first few months of life.
By the time Grace turned three-months-old, she weighed five pounds and was making significant improvements in the NICU.
At six-months-old, Grace was preparing to leave the NICU and go home. But first, she had to pass her car seat test, which she did with flying colors.
At six-months, Grace weighed over nine pounds! Even though she was home with her parents now, she still had a long way to go to combat her prematurity issues.
At eight months, Grace had grown to over 12 pounds! She was consistently hitting her milestones and was almost off her oxygen support, too.
We're almost at a year!
It's so hard to believe that these photos are of the same baby. It's amazing how much love and care went into making sure this little girl would make it.
Grace recently celebrated her first birthday with her parents.
While many new parents find the first year extremely challenging, this is especially true for parents of NICU babies. They've been through so much, so I'm glad they were all able to celebrate this milestone together.
She's crawling and exploring her world and has come so far from those months in the NICU. I'm looking forward to seeing more updates from this inspiring family.
