Preterm poetry

[oldbearprofessor]

In honor of my coming to the end of my month in the NICU, I thought I'd post my favorite Premie poem. Author is Garrison Keillor, and I am unaware of a specific title, although I've seen several listed. I've also seen several versions of the last line. Regardless, it's a great poem.


When I first saw you, kid, you were tiny and thin
And slimy and red and your head was mooshed in.
I said to your mother, "He looks kind of sloppy,
And a pound fifteen ounces ain't that big for a crappie."

But something about you, the look in your eyes,
Said you fully intended to grow to full size.
They slapped your backside and you let out a cry,
And I said, "We will keep him, at least we shall try."

Some babies are born in nine months, by the clock,
Some babies are born, and they sit up and talk.
Some babies are born and no doctor is there,
But some babies come in on a wing and a prayer.

Poor little fetus as big as my hand.
Poor little fish thrown up on dry land.
Who came in late March though you had till July,
Too small to live and too precious to die.

They shipped you across to the big Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit's computerized cradle.
And attached you to wires and stuck you with tubes
Monitored closely by digital cubes.

And thanks to the latest neonatal therapeusis
And regular basting with greases from gooses
And your Mama's milk intravenously fed
You did not fade away, you grew up instead.

We'll always remember the months that you spent
With tubes everywhere and hooked up to the vent
And the trach in your neck, the wires attached,
Sweet little baby only half hatched.

I'll always remember each doctor and nurse in
The NICU who helped make you a person.
The kid who crash-landed, was carried away,
Survived, and turns two years old today.

---

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[SoCuteMD]

THANKS MUCH 🙂.

~a former preemie

 

[baddabing]

While I find most of the rhetoric
in the poem to ring true.
Often things are difficult
to justify in the N-I-C-U.

While the patient described in your poem
recently turned two years old.
How's he doing developmentally?
Is he fitting the two-year old's mold?

While things often work out well
for a baby born at week twenty-seven,
many smaller babies should
just be allowed to go to heaven.

For example, a baby born
at week twenty-four,
may leave the hospital with
a trach, VP shunt, and much more.

Many heroic attempts at saving
the micropremies are ballsy.
Especially when the outcomes may mean
severe cerebral palsy.

I applaud the miraculous work
done by the dedicated NICU crew.
But it is sad to think of all the saved babies
whose futures are so blue.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Blue babies we fix
Cannula and oxygen we mix
But lifelong sadness, I think
Wouldn’t make up for being pink

Fortunately we have, instead of anecdotes
Actual data on which to write notes
Some of our outcomes might surprise you
If an open mind is within your view

Read studies by Saigal
Who tracks itsy bitsys when they go by themselves to the mall
Far to go we have yet
Many long-term goals unmet

But research and good care
Seem to be most fair
Meanwhile, celebrate today
Each baby who survives the NICU fray

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/111/5/969

 

[QofQuimica]

One thing you've forgotten, baddabing,
Is that babies aren't born in a vacuum.
No doubt two anxious parents stood in that room
Pleading with the NICU staff to do something.

Maybe this was their first little girl,
Born after so many failed times trying.
A prayer answered after much wondering whying
And waiting and hoping for a true miracle.

Or maybe instead it was a baby boy,
Long-awaited by his mom and dad,
Who'd become the best friend that they ever had-
Love that a lifetime could not destroy.

But above all else, who are we to surmise,
That one child can live, and another cannot?
We never can make all the miracles we want,
But we'll make all that we can, if we're wise.

 

[notstudying]

My thoughts were in sync with Baddabing
When I saw those little things,
So alien and tiny
With vents, lines, and skin so shiny.
But then my heart grew glad,
As previous patients I had had
grew big and came to see me,
In continuity clinic, and follow-up preemie.

There I saw ex -25 weekers,
Fat and jolly and surely creepers.
With parents glowing with reports,
Of milestones made and dreams of sports.
Maybe they have colds more often,
And some certainly have poor outcomes.
But we can't know this predictably
When we come running for a delivery.
So I will now staunchly defend
The great efforts of OBP and friends.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

One thing is most clear
To most neos far and near
Is that parents must be told
When our efforts ARE too bold
Parents and doctors can best
Choose together when efforts should rest
The threat has come back
That government agencies, wisdom they lack
Will enforce old Baby Doe rules
Created when most reading this were in elementary schools
Read the discussions in Pediatrics
About rule-making tricks
That would force senseless continuation of neonatal care
An idea most cruel and unfair
For despite what some might see true
When hopeless suffering comes daily anew
Most neonatologists know when to stop their dance
And give Heaven its chance

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/extract/115/3/797
My apologies but the whole article as well as a series of follow-up letters in August and December are not available for free on-line