Dean "Hunter" Lipely We were married Sept 10, 2011. It was a huge surprise to find out a short time later that there was a baby on the way. Due to past health issues, I was told that I would probably never be able to have children. So many feelings and emotions were circulating amongst us. We were so excited, yet shocked, nervous, and of course scared as first time parents. I began retaining water early on in the pregnancy, but did not have any complications other than that. At 29 weeks, my blood pressure became slightly elevated so my physician prescribed medication to keep it within normal limits. Exactly one week later, I began experiencing severe abdominal pain. My physician explained that it was my gallbladder and there was nothing we could do about it while I was pregnant. I would just have to endure the pain. Another week later, I began to have such horrible pain, that we decided to go to the ER. I was 31 weeks pregnant. The thought never crossed my mind that I would be delivering my baby that day. We thought maybe the physician would place me on bed rest, as I was still working full time. When we arrived at the ER, my blood pressure was so high, that they placed me under seizure precautions. What we soon found out was that my blood was not clotting. I was suffering from HELLP syndrome. The on call OB physician explained to me that I would be transferred to another hospital and I would be having my baby that night. It was so alarming and scary. Everything was happening so fast. Dean “Hunter” Lipely was born via emergency C-Section at 8:30 p.m. on April 3, 2012, 9 weeks early weighing in at 2 lbs. 10 oz. and 16 in. long. He has been amazing and lively from the beginning. He was delivered kicking and screaming with Apgar scores of 9. He was rushed away to the NICU to be checked out from head to toe and cared for. It would be 24 hours before I was able to see him due to my own condition. Hunter was such a fighter. He required only 21% oxygen, which is equivalent to room air, just to make it easier for him to breathe. Seeing him with all of the wires and tubing attached to him was frightening, but it was easy to accept when we realized that all of those wires and tubes were in place to make sure he was safe. He was so small and most of his body was covered by one thing or another to monitor so many different things. He was unable to eat normally because at that gestational age, a baby’s brain is not developed enough to know how to eat, so a nasogastric tube was placed for feeding. He gained weight every single day, even if it was only an ounce. He did spend a couple of days under the photo therapy light for increased jaundice levels, but he never had any heart or breathing problems. We were truly blessed. Hunter was labeled as a “feeder/grower”. In the NICU this just means they need time to grow, not critical care. He has been so alert and observant from day one. I remember the first few days in the NICU, he would not take a pacifier, he took it out of his mouth and threw it when the nurses would try to give it to him. They had to put an oxygen mask on him verses the nasal cannula because he wouldn’t leave the little tubes in his nose. We spent five weeks in the NICU before Hunter met all of the criteria to go home. It felt like forever but our stay was short compared to most babies that begin their adventure in the NICU. Hunter eventually learned to eat from a bottle, he passed his car seat test, and he reached his goal weight of 4 lbs. so we could go home. He passed several other tests while in the NICU also, too many to list. It was known before he was allowed to graduate from the NICU, that any issue he may have had, was detected and treated before we left. We were very fortunate that Hunter’s only real issue was that he was too little. There are so many babies who are born that are not as fortunate, but without the care that we received in the NICU, Hunter’s outcome may have been very different. He is 2 and a half now, and full of energy. He is physically and mentally on track with his age group, he is just a little small. This is only our second year marching for babies, but we want to give back as much as we can. Preemies are amazing and the some of the toughest people you will ever encounter.