Baby Brother Comes Home

When Nicole and Joe Harrigan of Tacony, were pregnant with their second child, they were very surprised. First of all, they thought their baby was a girl throughout the entire pregnancy. But on March 26th, Nicole gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. That wasn’t the only surprise.  Aidan was 10 pounds, 2 ounces, 22.5 inches long and four weeks early.

Despite being a healthy size, Aidan had some breathing difficultly and was admitted to Holy Redeemer Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for specialized treatment. He was placed on a CPAP machine, given a feeding tube and monitored closely.

“It was really scary,” Nicole said.

Aidan was a healthy size, but he still needed some extra care during his first few hours in the world. Fortunately he could breathe on his own by the end of the day. Any time Nicole or Joe had a question, their nurses were ready with answers.

“Our nurses were really great,” Nicole said. “They carefully explained everything and didn’t make us feel stupid for asking so many questions.”

Nicole was eager to bring her son home. Her firstborn, Joey, turned two on March 3rd. She wanted the whole family to be together.

“You feel bad. When you’re home, you’re away from your newborn and when you’re at the hospital, you’re away from your toddler,” Nicole said.

Aidan made exceptional progress and after several days he graduated the NICU and could finally go home. Now a two-child household, Nicole and Joe were nervous about how Joey would react to their new addition. As soon as Nicole introduced Aidan to his older brother, Joey said, “Hi baby” and handed Aidan his pacifier. It was perfect.

With two very different birth experiences at Holy Redeemer Hospital, Nicole is still immensely grateful to the staff who care for her and her sons.

When asked what advice she has for other NICU moms Nicole said, “It is just temporary. It is going to be difficult but you can get through it. The most important thing is that your baby is healthy.”