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My son was born in April of 1998, 14 weeks premature, weighing just 1 pound, 3 ounces. My wife had developed complications early on during her pregnancy due to her hereditary high blood pressure. We had consulted with a doctor that specialized in this condition; however, her condition continued to get worse, and at her 25th week of pregnancy we were given the news that they would have to deliver the baby within a few days, or neither of them were going to survive. We were told that the odds of our unborn son surviving were about 50/50 to be delivered in what was still the second trimester. On April 8, 1998, an emergency Caesarean-section Ìýwas performed and he was delivered at just over a pound. We were able to see him for just a moment and then he was whisked away and put into an incubator, as well as put on oxygen, and numerous other monitors.

When he was 5-days-old, he developed a hole in the lining of his stomach (just one of the many things that had not fully developed), and this is when he was transferred to Children’s National, whose doctors would perform the surgery to repair the hole in his stomach. Thankfully, he was…

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