This is a poster I created using a scrapbook software for the wonderful people at Medicsi, the clinic where I delivered my baby who was born 6 weeks early due to pre-eclampsia. It’s not the first one I made for them, that one was posted at the NICU for months. But this one shows different pictures of him at different ages during the first year of his life. We owe those wonderful people so much, starting with the fertility specialist and his OB-gynecologist wife who run the clinic to the neonatalist who became our son’s pediatrician.

I just learned I have a cousin who works in Abu Dhabi as an NICU nurse. I wished I knew about her when our son was born, because coping with pre-eclampsia, C-section, and postpartum depression while looking after a 1.67 kg preemie was one of the most difficult periods in my life. We just got wifi and having my laptop at my bedside had its pros and cons. Whenever I got a chance I surfed the web for information about premature babies, some encouraging, others disturbing and frightening. When I saw this video on YouTube I just fell to pieces and started bawling.

Now as I look at my son — a very active, headstrong toddler — bully the cook and two security guards into playing with him, I am finally able to watch the video from beginning to end. In spite of the spelling errors it’s very informative and touching. My eyes still watered and my chest tightened as some images revive memories of my own son’s time in the NICU. But I’m thankful that my cousin is observing Mother’s Day by re-posting this video to make me really appreciate everyone who works in NICU.