Extra Special Delivery
Jennifer Naples was 21 weeks into her fourth pregnancy when her water broke in the middle of the night. Admitted to the perinatal intensive care unit at Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida, Jennifer had one goal-make it to 28 weeks to save little Joey.
With support from her husband, Nick, and their three children, Jennifer spent 42 days in the hospital while caring professionals monitored the progress of her unborn son. When he arrived, Joey was more than three months premature and weighed just over two pounds ... as small as a Maine lobster.
With his tiny lungs not yet developed, Joey spent the first three months of his life in a "giraffe bed" in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, surrounded by high-tech equipment and a compassionate staff who watched over him 24 hours a day.
"We are truly blessed to have this level of children's health care so close to home," she says. "We can only imagine how taxing it would have been on our family if we had to travel to Tampa or Miami for the five months combined that Joey and I spent in the hospital."
"We feel a tremendous responsibility to tell our story," Jennifer says. "We want to do everything possible to ensure that every family in Southwest Florida has access to the same quality, world-class health care close to home just like Joey received."
Show Your Support
If you are interested in learning how you, like Jennifer, can help ensure every family in our community has access to quality health care, please contact Ken Shoriak at 239-343-6053 or Ken.Shoriak@LeeHealth.org today.