40 weeks is how long doctors hope mothers can carry their babies, but sometimes, for medical reasons, babies need to be delivered early. Terry Bell III’s daughter was born more than five weeks early.
“She was going in for a routine appointment, and I got a phone call saying, ‘we may have a baby in 48 hours’ so it was wild,” he said. “A great feeling, but it’s been a whirlwind for sure.”
Bell said Blakely was due on October 1 and came quicker than expected.
“We had her August 23, so she didn’t want to miss a game this year,” Bell said. “You know, we have Lawton High Friday, so she didn’t want to miss that one.”
The Eisenhower High School teacher and football coach said he was at a scrimmage when he got the phone call.
Now, his daughter is being cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit named after his grandfather who was instrumental in establishing the Children’s Starlight Fund that made it possible for Comanche County Memorial Hospital’s tiniest patients to receive care in Southwest Oklahoma.
Newborns who come into the world prematurely and need to stay in a NICU are able to stay there if they’re 32 weeks or older. Paula Griffith, the director of women’s services at CCMH said, they partner with OU which provides support and medical care.
“We have a partnership with them,” Griffith said. “So if any of the babies here are too sick to be here, they can go to OU, and then when they become well again they can come back here so their families can have the support that they need.”
CCMH’s NICU opened 11 years ago thanks to CCMH’s Foundation, the annual Children’s Starlight event, and support from the community.
“It’s traumatic enough to know that your baby has to be in a specialized care unit,” Griffith said. “But to be dislocated away from your friends and family and all of your support system is especially traumatic, so being able to keep those babies here and those families here is especially important and it is a service that we just love to provide.”
Bell said it feels good to have his daughter staying in a facility named after his grandfather.
“I kinda feel like he’s kinda got a little lended hand on her from up above,” he said. “It just feels good that something like this is here for the community for our little babies here that need our help.”
Every year in October, the NICU holds a reunion where they invite the babies who had a NICU stay and their families. Griffith said this lets the parents connect with the doctors and nurses who took care of their little ones and for staff to celebrate all of the milestones the kids have made.
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