Lauren vowed this time would be different.

She had been in the Johns Hopkins All Children’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) when her first two children came prematurely, but this time she assured husband Casey she’d do everything she could to keep the third baby to full term.

She drank a gallon of water a day.

She took two baby aspirin each night.

She abstained from salt throughout the pregnancy.

“I did everything they suggested times 10,” says Lauren, who has her own St. Petersburg, Florida, dental practice.

Still, at 29 weeks gestation, she felt her water leaking. It wasn’t the gush she had experienced with the first two babies, but Lauren knew it was coming and headed to the hospital.

The medical team never had seen an expectant mother come in so early with slight leaking, but few mothers have as much experience in this area as Lauren. The team stabilized her and sent Lauren home for strict bedrest. Two weeks later, the gush came.

Lucas was born at 30 weeks and six days gestation.

A NICU Veteran

Lauren’s first trip to the NICU in 2019 with Olivia was “terrifying.”

Lauren’s water broke at 34 weeks and five days, a point at which the medical team delivers the baby. Many of her friends had babies they had brought home a few days after birth. Instead, Lauren was encountering questions: When will the baby come home?

“It was horrible as a first-time mom,” she says.

But Lauren quickly found support from the nursing team in the Johns Hopkins All Children’s NICU, which carries a Level IV rating, the highest available.

“I’m a type-A personality,” she says. “I was there all the time. They got me through it.”

The nurses taught Lauren about diaper changing, feeding and more.

Lauren and Casey soon met Candice Guevara, D.O., M.S., who specializes in taking care of newborns in the NICU. Guevara would stop by on rounds and sit asking and answering questions until Lauren was more comfortable.

“She stays with you and explains everything,” Lauren says.

Lauren and Guevara became fast friends with the doctor often checking in even on her days off.

Lauren learned the baby would determine when she would go home. After 11 nights in the NICU, Olivia was ready.

“In retrospect, it was the easiest NICU stay,” Lauren says. “But it didn’t seem that way at the time.”

NICU Round 2

Two years later, Andrew brought more challenges.

Lauren’s water broke at 31 weeks gestation, and she learned a new lesson. At 31 weeks, the medical team tries not to deliver the baby right away. They want to allow the baby to develop as long as they can, so Lauren went into antepartum care, which lasted five days. Her water broke again on May 28, 2021 — Olivia’s third birthday — and Andrew was delivered the next day.

Lauren was more comfortable with what to expect in the NICU, but Andrew was more medically challenging because his lungs were less developed and he had feeding issues.

Brooke Johnson, R.N., and Lisa Allen, R.N., “held me up when I couldn’t hold myself,” Lauren says.

Guevara wasn’t part of the care team on this case, but she still checked in with Lauren when she could.

A standout of Andrew’s care was speech-language and feeding specialist Julie Blanshan Brett, M.A., CCC-SLP, who came for an hour each weekday during their six-week stay in the NICU when masks were common during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“She teaches babies to eat,” Lauren says. “She’s incredible, mind blowing.”

Lauren’s first two stays in the NICU produced lasting friendships. When she realized Lucas would bring her third stint in the NICU and potentially a long one, she began working her contacts for scouting reports and recommendations. She texted Guevara that the baby was coming and to have the team ready.

“I gathered the troops because we’re in this for the long term,” Lauren says.

Round 3

Lucas was born screaming, which was a good sign for a baby born about nine weeks early. He weighed 3 pounds, 15 ounces — more than Andrew at birth — another good sign.

Guevara is again part of the medical team on the case. Occupational therapist Christine Tapp was a mainstay, who helped Lauren hold Lucas for the first time. Lauren instantly bonded with Danielle Greene, R.N., and asked her to be her primary nurse.

“We totally clicked,” Lauren says. “She’s so sweet.”

Primary nursing is when a nurse is assigned to a specific patient during each shift. It promotes continuity of care.

“Oftentimes, our premature infants need special techniques while eating, and having a consistent team involving speech therapy, family and the same nurses promotes better outcomes,” Greene says. “Primary nursing is special because you not only develop a close bond with the patient, but the family as well. You get to be there for them as they go through their NICU journey. We celebrate the little wins with the family. We establish a trusting relationship.”

Like most premature babies, Lucas has multiple medical challenges, but as he gets stronger, his feeding improves, his personality develops and he becomes more vocal.

Through it all, Lauren knows the NICU team is there to support her and her family.

“I tell them, you perform miracles every day,” she says. “It’s an emotional rollercoaster. These are selfless people in the NICU. They are the huge cheerleaders you don’t know you need.”