Mother discusses experience during National NICU Awareness Week

Mother discusses experience during National NICU Awareness Week

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Sept. 30 is NICU Awareness Day, the last day of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Initiative Week.

According to the March of Dimes, the Bluegrass state is in the top 20 states for preterm birth rates at 11.7 percent.

“She was born March 12th, 2021. She was born at 32 weeks exactly at four pounds, four ounces,” said Kayla Lawrence, a mother of four.

Lawrence said she too was in the NICU when her baby was born and recalls the moment she laid eyes on her daughter Eden, who was attached to many things.

“She had little leads going into her umbilical, so I wasn’t able to pick her up or hold her, and it broke my heart. It was leaving her there and not getting to hold her because of that uncertainty,” she said.

Little Eden began to fight a tough battle for a tiny warrior.

“She had a brain bleed. She was jaundiced, she couldn’t regulate her body temperature, and she couldn’t eat,” her mother said.

As the days went by of watching her baby from afar, Lawrence finally got the chance to embrace her little fighter.

“I went to see her, and they let me hold her and that helped a little bit, but it didn’t make anything d...