I wasn’t as premie as this baby.

My family has a condition that predisposes towards premature delivery. My grandmother had three premature births where the babies died within a few days. My mother was the fourth. She survived because she was born in 1964. Her siblings were born before the technology existed to save them.

My mother was not expected to live, and if she did she was expected to have significant issues. She was a “miracle” baby - she became a physician.

By the time I was born, being as premature as my mother was not as significant because science had advanced so very far. I had a far better outlook than my mother did. So did my siblings. Every one born alive lived.

Today, being as premature as I was is considered relatively “good” as far as a premie birth goes. My own children will be in far less danger compared to what my aunts and uncles faced in the 1950s.

I like to think about what it was like in 1964, and imagine what it will be like when this baby is as old as my mother. It’s pretty cool to think about.