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I AM STILL PROCESSING THIS STORY. First of all, Mom really caught that surprise baby. Second, the NICU girls are on vacation but they still have to work, v normal day. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/05/07/airplane-birth-nicu-nurse/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social
Picture, if you will, Amanda, Lani, and Mimi. You work hard at the NICU. You bond. You book a girls trip to Hawaii, how fun for you. Then you take care of three lb baby Raymond who popped out at 40K ft when his mom, Lavi, though she had severe, maybe life threatening indigestion.
Like does the airplane refund your fare if you're the NICU nurses or the doctor who just happen to be on board when a mom pops a surprise 29 week old infant.
THEY BUILT A MAKESHIFT MOBILE NICU UNIT I am losing it
THEY USED AN APPLE WATCH AS A HEART RATE MONITOR. They sliced the umbilical cord with shoelaces, I am screaming, also which shoes and was it a limited drop with razor sharp shoelaces, I need more details.
But also? Very impressed with shoelaces, the unsung hero of this story, will be going to StockX shortly just in case I'm on a plane and somebody drops a surprise baby.
I don't live with a human so you all have to walk with me emotionally through dealing with this story, I cannot. Okay also THEY MADE A BABY BEANIE OUT OF A PASSENGER'S SOCK which tbh I am assuming was clean and from the carry-on luggage, it is purple FYI.
"They also made a mini oxygen mask with first aid tape" NONE OF THESE HEALTHCARE PEOPLE SHOULD EVER HAVE TO PAY FOR A FLIGHT AGAIN
You know all these nurses and the doctor probably spent their year and change dealing with COVID-19 related issues and they really took care of that baby and new mom on a flight to Hawaii for vacation, I mean, at LEAST give them the good cookies (Biscoff).
Oh I learned something new: a "cryptic pregnancy" is when a mother doesn't know she's pregnant until late in the pregnancy or when she's delivering. It is in fact often due to a hormone imbalance. Baby was only 3 lbs and 29 weeks, probably very little weight gain/belly for her.
The mom is 38, I am 40, cue me desperately doing math to make sure I couldn't possibly be cryptic pregnant AHHHHHHHHH I don't even know what the fuck cryptocurrency is yet, please Jesus don't give me an NFT baby!!!!
“It’s more common than people realize,” Glenn said, estimating that it occurs in about 1 in 400 pregnancies and happens more frequently in women with irregular menstrual cycles and first-time mothers, like Mounga, who don’t recognize the signs. - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
This is bananas. A family doctor from Hawaii and a full nurse NICU team from Missouri. This is them after.
Like that's definitely a way to make some friends on an airplane. The doctor didn't know the nurses but the nurses all work together.
Midwestern women really will just stoically deal with some shit and wait until later to freak out.
Guess what the baby's dad is the airline I don't make the rules. They have to pay for college or trade school.
"To show her gratitude, she asked Glenn’s family to choose a middle name for her son, and his daughter thought of the Hawaiian name Kaimana, which means 'power of the sea.' 'It’s fitting,' Glenn said, considering 'he was born flying 500 miles over the Pacific.'" Raymond Kaimana!
“Passengers shared diapers, a blood glucometer, a thermometer, blankets and anything else we asked for. There were a lot of heroes on that flight,” he said. “Everybody started working together and it was this incredible feeling of teamwork.”
Did somebody genetically engineer this story to start my day off better than yesterday?! Baby is still in the NICU but he is doing well and they expect he'll be there for several weeks.
The baby wasn't crying at first and they were worried. Then it was fine. DON'T WORRY THERE'S A TIKTOK VIDEO. https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/04/30/delta-flight-baby-born-air/
This goes without saying, but thank goodness and what good ethics, to say the least, for the Tik Tok poster to omit images of baby's face and Mom's face for privacy reasons.
I must send this to my brother, an RN who keeps up his licensure and is studying for his MPH but works in business at the moment. This is maybe his travel nightmare but also I know he'd help. BUT. You want highly trained professionals with specific knowledge in these cases!
Also I hope Mom gets whatever therapy you need to help you when you do not know you're pregnant and then you have a baby on an airplane in a story that becomes national news and also you have no baby clothes or diapers or new mom preparation!
Also, I know it is hard to believe somebody might not know when they were that far along, but it does happen. It's not always a psychological delusion or denial. Full term, I'll admit, I have trouble believing that one, but 29 weeks I can believe.
Also, maybe sometimes you go 40 weeks and don't know, for a variety of reasons I don't understand...I lost a pregnancy at somewhere between 12 and 14 weeks but hadn't even known I was pregnant, and I was 25 (it was okay, for the best) so I don't know what 29 weeks feels like.
Anyway, the point is, the baby seems to be doing okay and the mom is healthy and I think that doctor and NICU team really deserve, like, a free trip somewhere.
Follow @sydneypage95 who is the freelancer (hooray freelancers) who wrote this great story. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/05/07/airplane-birth-nicu-nurse/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social
I wonder if there is a GoFundMe for Raymond's stay in the NICU. That is expensive stuff in the United States. Plus the care for the mother, plus all the diapers, plus maybe he needs one of those Sophie giraffe things or whatever, zwieback soon, I don't know, a trust fund?
I would start one but I don't have the contact info and I don't want to seem shady or weird (obviously I'm weird) but maybe the family has one, or the hospital has a fund to help.
Also I am sorry I did swears in this thread about a baby! Don't do swears, baby Raymond! Just keep working on that lung capacity! Based on my dude's loud cries on the plane as per TikTok, his lungs are on their way.
Oh! Also! If you're wondering what the birth certificate will say - I'm not sure! Could be the state they were flying over, could be the state they landed in...this earlier story (before the interviews were done) explains. https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/04/30/delta-flight-baby-born-air/
If ever one needed evidence that pregnancy, labor and delivery are different for every single individual...whew. We can empathize on some stuff but we just can't know someone else's exact experience. Also now I have to watch that show about not knowing you're pregnant.
Also is the baby technically an NFT, I still don't know what one is but it might be this baby.
Is the baby on Clubhouse yet, does he have Twitter Spaces, these are questions.
Queen of Glendale and professional surprise baby info investigator @molls has informed me that the baby's aunt said on TikTok that the birth certificate shall say Hawaii.
Here is the GoFundMe, thank you to the people who showed me! https://www.gofundme.com/f/555ng-lavis-airborn-baby?utm_campaign=p_cp_url&utm_medium=os&utm_source=customer
