Sarah's story, mom to Elsie

When I was pregnant with Elsie, we found out in the 24th week that she was in the 4th percentile for size. Something wasn’t right, but at that time we didn’t know that there was a blood clot in my placenta causing her to be so tiny. We were labeled “high risk” and we started fetal monitoring. On February 12th, 2018 during a fetal monitoring appointment, Elsie’s heart rate began to drop. As a result, an emergency C-section was performed at 25 weeks and 1 day gestation in order to get to our little girl as quickly as possible. Elsie was immediately taken by a team of nurses, respiratory therapists, and doctors who intubated her. She was taken from my womb much too early in order to save her life. Our little peanut weighed 480 grams, which is just shy of 1 pound 1 ounce, and was 11 inches long. She looked like a bird with no feathers. Her skin was delicate and red and her little body was so frail, yet she has proven to be the strongest little person that I know. Elsie was, is, and forever will be known as a micro-preemie. Babies born this early are known to have feeding troubles such as reflux and food aversion caused by their underdeveloped digestive systems and lengthy intubations. With this in mind, we were focused on making all of Elsie’s feeding experiences positive ones. Elsie took her first Dr. Brown’s bottle at 11 weeks old. We were confident in Dr. Brown’s because they individually test each of their nipples for the proper flow. Elsie’s gag reflex was very sensitive, and as she was being fed we had to pay close attention to her sucking, swallowing, and breathing in order to help her pace and have the positive experience we were hoping for with each feed. Elsie used the Ultra-Preemie nipple for her first few feeds and then the Preemie nipple for a long time until she was better coordinated. We were also impressed by Dr. Brown’s ventilation system. With Elsie already suffering from severe reflux, she didn’t need any extra air in her tummy causing problems. At 7 months old, Elsie finally had the stamina to drink all of her calories from the bottle without extra assistance from a feeding tube. Soon after removing her feeding tube, Elsie graduated from the Preemie nipple to the Level 1 nipple. She continues to grow and develop steadily, and we have Dr. Brown’s bottles to thank for Elsie’s feeding success. With a reliable bottle, Elsie was able to have positive experiences with the feeding process and gradually progress from being completely dependent on a tube to consuming all of her nutrients from her Dr. Brown’s bottles. Thank you Dr. Brown’s for providing our little girl with a trustworthy bottle that my family and I gladly recommend to other parents.