It is always so scary when a baby is born prematurely. You never know quite how things are going to turn out and it’s pretty much a new parent’s worst imagination. While most cases end up okay, if anything at all goes wrong, the ensuing complications can be incredibly frightening. That’s exactly what happened with Naomi Joy Bakker.
Angela and Michael Bakker were both elated when they discovered they were expecting a baby girl. However, when Angela was only 25 weeks pregnant and went into labor 15 weeks ahead of schedule, difficulties emerged. The chances of keeping Naomi Joy alive and well were dwindling, and mom and dad were becoming increasingly apprehensive.
After the successful birth, the dedicated staff at the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit kept a close eye on the 12 oz, barely one pound baby, providing extra care to the teeny infant who needed a controlled environment to continue growing she was only permitted to be touched by her parents very carefully.
It was only after two long weeks that Naomi was a little more developed and had the doctor’s go-ahead to be held by her parents outside of the incubator.
“Holding a premature baby skin-to-skin is known as ‘kangaroo care’. Naomi’s doctors and nurses believe that kangaroo care was critical to her growth and healing,” it explains in the video.
Naomi was able to attach and be embraced despite the fact that she was still very small. Doctors determined that she was stable enough to be held, and with the support of eight nurses who assisted in the transfer from her incubator to her mother’s bosom, Naomi was able to bond and be loved.
Naomi had to spend 128 more days after that in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) before she was finally allowed to go home. However, mom Angela came in every single morning for the remainder of the 128 days to hold Naomi and show her she was loved.
Naomi was one of the tiniest babies we have ever seen and so many things could have gone wrong. However, we are so glad the story ultimately had a happy ending.
