Hi, my name is Tifini. Iâm a wife, business owner, and a new mama.
Iâve been married to my husband TJ for eight years and last July we grew our family by one with the addition of our daughter Izabella Hope. We live in a small town between Lincoln and Omaha and weâve been looking forward to the day that we would get to raise our daughter here!
We tried for 14 months before we were blessed to find out we were finally pregnant. Everything was going on track; our baby girl was due at the end of September. Then one morning what I thought was an embarrassing pregnancy moment turned out to be my water breaking! You can imagine my surprise and dismay, as I was only 27 weeks along.
After calling into my doctorâs office, I was told I would need to get to the Labor and Delivery unit at Bryan Health. Once I arrived, the doctors and nursing staff tried to delay delivery as long as possible, but within 48 hours I went into labor and delivered Izabella at the fragile age of 27 weeks.
Until this moment, we had always assumed Iâd carry full term, so we hadnât even thought about the possibility of looking into Bryanâs NICU. But as it would happen, for the next 56 days that NICU was our home.
Those 56 days felt like one long day that just kept running on. But, my husband and I jumped into our new roles as preemie parents and got involved with the nursesâ care times, asked the doctors a million questions, and dreamt about the day we could bring Izabella home.
While in such a tumultuous time, we were so thankful to have access to comforts that the Bryan Family Birthplace offers, such as the hospitality rooms, showers, and laundry area. Those may seem like small amenities to some, but being able to wash Izzyâs laundry gave me a feeling of normalcy in this new role as a mommy.
I think that motherhood is best described by Neil L. Anderson when he says, âMotherhood is not a hobby; itâs a calling. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in, it is what God has given you the time for.â Iâve embraced this view in my parenting style and I truly feel that if we keep our focus on what God has given our family, we can conquer all the curves that the journey of parenting might throw our way.
