Preemie Parents Share Their NICU Photos to Offer Hope

A couple who welcomed premature twins in 2015 have shared on Instagram their children’s journey from NICU babies to thriving toddlers.

Jourdan and Matt Moore welcomed their twins Jaxon and Cadence four months early, where the duo spent more than three months living in the NICU. The 16-month-old brother and sister are now thriving at home and the Moores felt led to share their journey on Instagram to encourage other parents facing similar circumstances with their premature babies.

You simply cannot rush a miracle. The tiny steps forward, the massive steps back, the detours from our own plan are all part of the strategically orchestrated blueprint which someday transforms into the miracle. I used to think all miracles were instantaneous. I’ve learned that the most beautiful of all miracles are the ones you get the honor of witnessing in slow motion. Left: 1 day old /exactly 4 months prior to due date. Right: 16 months old / 12 months adjusted age. #transformationtuesday #godofmiracles #miraclebaby #slowandsteadywinstherace by @journeytominimoore

We (humanity) tend to display primarily only the “best/most beautiful/least vulnerable” parts or ourselves to the public, to social media, and even to our own personal memory banks. If we block out the ugly then we can pretend it doesn’t exist. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease when I was 16. It’s an invisible disease so when I look back through old photo albums it’s easy to forget how debilitating it used to be. I wish I had journaled about it because honestly most of it is a compete blur in my mind. Recently I found a notebook from 12 years ago, inside a list of daily symptoms, that my doctor had asked me to keep log of. My heart ached for the old me that I painfully recalled as I flipped through those pages. I sobbed for the young girl that suffered in silence. But I look at myself today and I feel a deeper sense of gratitude that I may not have if those darker days were ignored and forgotten. I’m healthier and my disease is finally well managed. What a blessing! I post these before and after photos of my babies for the same reason. How can we experience true joy and thankfulness if we do not allow ourselves to document the vulnerable days just as we do the good ones? So let this be an encouragement… to those of you with babes still in the NICU, still struggling to with infertility, still suffering with any element… journal about it, take photos, document it. Because someday the old pain might actually provide you with a deeper joy than you have ever known. Left: Cadence 1 day old, 4 months before due date. (500 grams / 1lb 1oz) Right: Cadence 16 months old, 12 months adjusted age. (20 lbs-ish but who’s counting anymore 😉 ?) #throwbackthursday #miraclebaby #godofmiracles by @journeytominimoore

Jourdan told The Huffington Post, “The purpose of our social media accounts is to spread hope to preemie parents.

“If we didn’t expose where we came from, some of our most difficult moments, then we wouldn’t be fully revealing the depth of the joy we are enjoying today.”
Matt added, “In the NICU you focus on survival day by day, sometimes hour by hour.

“It’s not a brightly lit nursery with a big window for people to gaze in, like you see on TV. It’s a dark, quiet, private space.”

In those early days of delivering a preemie baby, parents can be left feeling scared, anxious and sometimes with little hope as it can often be one step forward, two steps back.

#throwbackthursday to a few more of our very first #touchesoflove moments. See last post for details… by @journeytominimoore

But the Moores hope their twins’ photos can uplift parents in their preemie journey and provide hope that the right care can bring about the most amazing miracles.