Gerard Raby
Gerard was born at 37 weeks due to my diagnosis of Preeclampsia; he weighed in at 8lbs 13oz and he was by far the largest baby in the NICU. Unfortunately, although he was big, he surprised the doctors by not having fully developed lungs. Gerard didn’t have a name upon entering the NICU and His dad kept coming and saying to me that we needed to name him. Being so sick from delivery, I said to just choose one from one of the two we narrowed it down to… Graham or Gerard. Ironically our doctor’s name was Dr. Gerard and when his dad looked it up, it meant strong and brave! Gerard was just that… he required oxygen and a feeding tube while we waiting for the medicine to help his lungs grow. The hardest day I ever had was when we had to leave the hospital without him. There were no cameras then to check in on him and I felt horrible calling and taking the nurses away from those precious babies. It was the longest two weeks of my life! And yet, I recognize how very fortunate we were that his stay was so short!
