Oh Laurel, My two-and-a-half-pound baby’s lungs weren’t developed either. She also didn’t have the sucking reflex yet. Respiratory Distress Syndrome is extremely common in preemies. The baby is placed on a ventilator to breathe for them. It’s very frightening to a mother to see all the wires and tubes and not be able to hold her baby, but you can definitely touch them. You just have to do it by placing your hands inside those holes you see above. That’s also how they get fed and diapered.

It IS a “huge deal,” but it is also not a “huge deal” to the hospital and staff unless you were born in a third world country. They see this every single day. Perhaps you were not about to die, as your parent’s believed and/or were told. And perhaps all this drama around the whole ordeal of your birth fit in nicely with their religious beliefs? Just something to think about.

I think you might understand better if you read my story: