22 Weeks

10/12/24

Happy Viability Day! Today is officially the day baby becomes viable in the state of NY and at our hospital. This number can range based on location and the level of the NICU, so we are very lucky to have viability be such a young age here; in some places it can be 24-25 weeks. “Viability,” in my understanding, is the youngest possible age where the doctors can take life saving measures that could possibly be successful. The older baby gets the easier it is to get a breathing tube in them, the risk of brain bleeding goes down, the risks of long term disabilities and deficiencies goes down, and the possibility of survival increases; so this is a big day for baby!

When I first went into the hospital and found out my water was already broken around 21 weeks, getting to 22 weeks felt so far away. All of the doctors warned us 50% of women go into labor 24-48 hours after their water breaks, so there was a 50% chance our baby wouldn’t be viable when we delivered. We are ecstatic to be at the 22 weeks mark and have a viable baby now! Although the doctors can take measures to revive and save baby at this stage, the odds are certainly not in our favor. Baby is still being measured in ounces, not even a pound yet, there lungs, brain and organs are severely underdeveloped, and their skin is not even complete enough to protect the outside the womb. We are overjoyed to be at resuscitation age, however, this is not our end goal as the risks associated with birth at this stage are incredibly high. I don’t have too much to add today other than we are grateful to have made it this far and our next big milestone will be 25 weeks! Keep on cooking baby T. <3