What a difference a year makes.
Dallen and Dean Hodgkin know this all too well, as they now watch their baby daughter Cali explore with curiosity and play in their home.
Cali had been born prematurely 14 and a half months ago, on Nov. 24, 2015, after only 24 weeks and six days in gestation, and she spent a total of 87 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) before her parents were finally able to bring her home on Feb. 19 one year ago.
Today, Cali weighs 18.7 pounds, and for her “adjusted age” of around 11 months, she is growing and developing exactly as she should be, with doctors calling her their “miracle baby”.
As Dallen explained, her “adjusted age” is based on when Cali would have been born, around March 9, had she gone full-term.
The NICU is located in the Rawlco Centre for Mother-Baby Care at the Regina General Hospital. The unit sees between 600 and 700 babies from 24 to 42 weeks old come to the unit each year.
Some only need to stay a few hours, while others, like Cali, need longer time to be cared for.
The NICU includes the Special Care Nursery for babies who require less intensive care. The unit has capacity for 29 babies. Some of the health care concerns the unit deals with include respiratory distress, heart defects or complications from the delivery.
Twins and triplets may also need the NICU as they have a higher incidence of being underweight or premature. Babies, like Cali, who are born at between 24 and 27 weeks need more intensive care as they are very fragile and are more susceptible to complications.
Each nurse in the unit cares for one to four babies, and do everything from changing diapers, taking their weight or comforting them when they cry.
