Personal Reflection

Good Morning Everyone! Happy first day of spring....it kind of feels warm today and I think we will be reaching at least 55 degrees today, which will feel so warm to us after this bitter cold winter.

The other day I was talking to the fellow nurses and staff I work with in the medical daycare on a daily basis. We were talking about our birthdays and when we were born, and I mentioned that I was born six weeks early. I was a premature baby, suppose to be born in January and decided to come out for an early arrival in November...November 23rd. 1990 to be exact. I was so tiny when I came out, that I had to be put in an incubator for the first few weeks of my life. My lungs were too tiny and not quite developed yet. The doctors and staff at the hospital in Media, Pennsylvania were trying experimental medicine to help me develop and live. This was back in 1990 - before some of the modern technology and medicine we have today. It makes me feel old because it is even before cell phones and digital cameras, because my parents and family took pictures of me in the hospital with Polaroids! I was a fighter when I was younger, overcoming the problems that come with an early birth with the love and care of my family and the doctors at the hospital. Even when I was finally healthy enough to be brought home, my father accidentally sat on me on the couch....I was that tiny and unnoticeable (don't worry, It turned out nothing was wrong and that my mother had a panic attack from the incident).  Today, I am a college graduate and a full time teacher at a hospital...so I think it is safe to say even with adversity I've turned out to be a successful individual.

I am sharing this with everyone because of the little bit of irony in my life. I've started out as a premature baby with medical issues, and now I am teaching toddlers and pre-school students who have entered this world in similar situations. Leanne, the lead nurse in Medical Daycare, said to me "Well that's cool, you were born as a preemie and now you are teaching these kids!". It is funny how life turns out and how much I can relate to the children at the Franciscan Hospital for Children, even if I do not remember the early stages of my life. I was also born with a mild bleeding disorder, von Willebrand's disease, that my parents discussed I had when I hit my head on a metal popcorn bowl and had severe and unusual bruising on my head. From then on, I was brought to many doctors for testing, probing, picking, etc. I still cringe at the thought of needles, getting shots and blood drawn....something I have not seen to grow out of even at twenty-three years old. :-)

I hope you enjoy the old fashion pictures. I thought some of the families and viewers of the blog would appreciate the irony of everything...

Best,

Allison