"My son Austin was due in February 2012 but decided to join us in January instead. It was then when my world flipped upside down. My son Austin wasn't breathing when he was born and had aspirated while in the process of delivery. He was born blue, floppy and unresponsive. Austin and my husband were flown from Naples to Nicklaus Children's Hospital immediately after his birth. They took care of him right away; the staff assisted my husband in finding a place to stay and helped him become familiar with the amenities at the hospital. I arrived 3 days later because of my postpartum complications. My husband showed me to the NICU and I was surprised to see that the nurses already knew my husband and greeted me as if they knew me. It made me feel that my son was in a good place. When I was at my son's bedside he had tubes, wires, monitors on him and the nurses explained what they were for.
Since being released from Nicklaus Children's Hospital, we have returned several times with Austin for follow up appointments with an Ophthalmologist for bleeding behind his eyes and with a Neurologist to make sure he didn't have developmental delays and to ensure he would not have seizures later in life. All the tests came back negative. My son is now 15 months and is a healthy boy! He's loves the outdoors, dancing, playing in the water, and, of course, Elmo. I'm very thankful for the staff at Nicklaus Children's Hospital."
Erica - Immokalee, FL