We are Stronger Than We Expect
This week my daughter brought me a notebook from school, in which the teacher praised her work with the word "Fantastic!" (in the photo below, written in green). She is studying in the first grade on a special state program "Intelligence". Children do not yet receive marks in the first grade, so teachers evaluate their work with words or emoticons. "Fantastically!" is the highest mark, you can't get a higher one, so I'm very happy. I sat down to write this article to tell you how it all started.
Six years ago, I couldn't even dream of a mark “Fantastic!”. Six years ago, I prayed to God that I would just have my daughter. She was born very quickly, in the 7th month of pregnancy. The reason was insufficient blood supply and, accordingly, oxygen to the fetus. Therefore, the baby developed with a delay, so at birth it was even smaller than it should be.
My daughter was born with a height of 39 centimeters and a weight of 1 kilogram and 300 grams. Immediately after birth, she lost weight to 1 kilogram and 160 grams. Were my wife and I ready for this? Of course not. Did we know what we had to go through? Also no.
Such a small child cannot eat on its own, so the doctors installed a probe for the child. The probe is a soft tube that is pushed through the nose to the stomach. Mothers have to feed the baby through the tube. This requires strong nerves.
Toddlers have insufficient thermoregulation, so they are placed in an incubator. The incubator maintains the appropriate temperature and humidity. It has two holes through which you can push your hands so that you can take care of the baby.
At the beginning, the child is in the intensive care unit, and then she is brought in an incubator to a regular hospital room.
Premature babies very often have various diseases, defects or abnormalities. Most often they have vision problems, an open hole in the heart, a hematoma in the head. But there are many others problems.
When my daughter was still in the intensive care unit, I brought a priest to christen her there. My wife and I hoped for the best, but there was no certainty that everything would be all right. That is why we did not waste time with christening…
Fortunately, in a few days my daughter was transferred to a regular hospital room, which meant that our affairs were improving. And the first test is a regular x-ray. My wife had to hold the baby by the arms and head, while her torso and legs hung freely. In this position, doctors took an X-ray. The poor wife was shocked by this procedure. I couldn't understand why they did X-rays like that. The reason was shocking, the hospital simply did not have a special X-ray device designed for premature babies.
Every day at the hospital began with a weighing procedure. Weighing is accurate, every gram was taken into account. Every day we recorded the child's weight, hoping that it would grow steadily. In those days when the weight did not grow, we were overwhelmed with terror.
Every day a nurse came and put a drip on the little baby. There were so many of them that we had to look for veins not only on the arms but also on the legs. The scars from those drips still remain on my daughter's skin as a reminder of the trials she and we went through.
In addition, a small premature baby always has certain health problems. Every day a doctor came to our hospital room and examined the baby. After the examination, he adjusted the course of treatment.
You can't even imagine what a holiday it was for us the day our daughter first ate from a bottle, not with the help of a tube. What is common to all people was an extraordinary event for us.
We spent 2 months in the hospital. Only after that we brought my daughter home for the first time. Then she weighed 2 kilograms and 260 grams. It is still less than the weight of normal newborns.
In the end we overcame everything! Now my daughter is the biggest in the class. Apparently she was trying so hard to catch up with her peers that she overtook. She is very successful in her studies, her teacher constantly emphasizes this. The child dances, easily learns poems by heart, dreams of doing karate and becoming a horsewoman.
We never know what awaits us. And we are never aware of our strengths. Fate often throws up extraordinary trials that we have never prepared for, and we still overcome them. We underestimate ourselves. So believe in yourself and make an effort to pass your tests.
What an incredible start to life. Through adversity comes strength and your daughter is testament to this 💖
That's true. And if you have a hard time achieving something, then you appreciate it more.
This post turned out to be more candid than I had planned.
Tell me please. You are a native English speaker. How many errors in my texts? A lot, tolerable, okay? In general.
Your English is very good - better than many who have English as their native tongue.
Wow, thanks! I did not expect such words. I often spend a lot of time looking for the right translation. It's a little easier with the text, but when foreigners come to my work and I need to talk to them at least a little, then my brain just boils.
One of the reasons I'm an active Steemit user is that I learn English involuntarily. I even enrolled in English courses, but there you have to study hard, it takes a long time. I had to give up the courses.
When I was in school, at that time our country felt the lack of teachers who would teach English well. Therefore, my knowledge remained at a fairly weak level. Now the situation has changed a lot. Most modern Ukrainian teenagers speak good English. It is very pleasing.
I think your brain's doing just fine 🙂 The only thing I notice occasionally is the use of "he" instead of "it" - which is common when using a translator.
It's also common for people to learn English through watching films and even have an American accent as a result. With American culture so popular across the globe, your daughter will no doubt be fluent, possibly with an American twang.
I'm also sure she'll know English. She has already started studying it at the age of six. I will try to provide her with the conditions for this.
One day I had dinner at the same table with two Germans, an Italian, a Japanese and an American. Everyone spoke English. The American pronunciation is very different, you can immediately recognize that it is American.
This sounds like the beginning of a joke. I know that it isn't, but it sounds like it.
That must have been very interesting - with your Ukrainian accent too. A vibrant mixture of cultures.
When I wrote this, I also thought it sounded like the beginning of a joke.
It was a conference hosted by the Japanese company Asahi Kasei. After dinner we had dinner. There really was a mixture of cultures.
Speakers from England also attended the conference. They are more difficult to understand because they use much more complex language constructions and unknown synonyms. But the native speaker sounds perfect.
You must be so proud and fulfilled by her! Congratulations!
Oh yes, I'm very proud. I am so proud of her that I have written about it to the whole world 😀
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Мои поздравления!
Это тем более поразительный результат с учётом того, как начиналась эта героическая жизнь. Вы с женой большие молодцы.
Впереди у девочки ещё много испытаний, но самое главное она преодолела и теперь имеет даже преимущество перед обычными детьми. Она более стойкая.
Успехов вам всем:)
Спасибо за теплые слова. Да, впереди у нее еще много испытаний, мне страшно об этом подумать. Но я надеюсь, что самые большие она уже прошла.
Кстати, напишете статью об успехах в вашей новой стратегии?
В этих трудностях с ней были вы и это решило исход дела. И она хорошо боролась. Важно, что бы и в новых испытаниях рядом были надёжные люди. Но теперь у неё есть опыт на подсознании и в памяти тела. Это уже хороший задел. На самом деле сейчас она более устойчива, чем многие из её окружения.
Про успехи пока писать рано. Хорошо, что ничего пока не проиграл, я двигаюсь очень осторожно и скорее играю больше в инвестора))
Согласен, это важно всегда и для всех. В одиночестве бороться очень тяжело и можно преждевременно сдаться.
Искренне желаю вам удачи.
Благодарствую на добром слове.
И вам всем здравы и блага)
This is fantastic indeed.
I've been their twice. Six months, both are fine (they say girls are stronger) intelligent and very creative.
I wish your daughter all the best for her life. 🍀💖
Oh, you know well how it is.
We were also told so. After a month in the hospital, I also think so.
Thanks! All the best to you too.
Thank you.