Before Their Time: Lessons in Living from Those Born Too Soon

What a delight to share in the love and the pain as the families of these preemie-babies struggle with the issues of our time. What a wonder to have a peek, not inside the womb, but outside, as these babies continue development that is normally hidden from the world. There is nothing weak in the love of parents who spend weeks at their baby's bedside, reaching through tubes and machines to assure a little one he/she is loved. There is nothing callous in a doctor spelling out the almost insurmountable obstacles a baby must overcome in order to survive. Intensive care neonatal units are places few of us will ever see. Healthy children are a blessing most of us take for granted. Yet this book takes us into the lives of several families, with all the drama of repeated life-and-death crisis. This book lets us feel the pain, and the joy; the frustration and the wonder. It confronts us with the questions. It does not preach, yet dependency on God breathes from its pages. These infants, so astonishingly small, are precious and wonderfully made. This is a book you'll want on your shelf. You'll find your eyes overflowing at times. You'll find yourself sharing pain too deep for words. You'll also find yourselves lifted with a sense of wonder at the Majesty of God's handiwork.

My daughter spent 90 days in the NICU unit at our local children's hospital. It was the most difficult and most joyous time of our lives. Fortunately, our story had a happy ending and she came home without needing medication or reliance on medical equipment to eat or breathe. I came across this book about two weeks into our NICU stay. It gave me hope in that it expressed many of the thoughts and feelings that our family was going through, and describing the unique intersection of parents, neonatologists and premature or critically ill newborns that make up the NICU. (It was also difficult to read with my child being hospitalized at the same time) I really enjoyed a brief essay in the last chapter of the book about perseverence. Every parent of a child in NICU should read that last chapter. It was very affirming to me in light of how tiring (and rewarding)the experience of being present each day with your child in the hospital can become. The experience is emotionally draining, and a parent will experience hope and fear and discouragement, and many times will wonder where they will get the energy to interact with the medical staff, learn the medical terminology and interact with the different personalities of the nursing team, and be able to deal with the incredible emotions that are generated when they receive medical updates on their baby. Parents need a lot of affirmation. I also recommend this book because the stories of the newborns are well written. You will laugh and cry and become attached to all the babies and their families. I bought a copy for the library at the childrens hospital where our daughter was treated. This book would be appropriate for parents of critically ill newborns or for those who love a good story. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I thought this book was wonderful. It helps people who have never experienced life in the NICU get a glimpse of it. I have quadruplets and all 4 of my babies went through the NICU at Chidren's Hospital in Minneapolis. Dr. Ronald Hoekstra took care of my babies and he is as wonderful as the stories in this book make him sound. It is very difficult and hard to explain what life is like in the NICU and this book does a marlvous job of conveying that. I have given this book to many friends and family members to help them understand what I went through.

I loved this book. I often read and the gym on the exercise bike and my mind will wander. Not with this book! I was engrossed with the stories and tears came to my eyes often as these people of faith go through very challenging times. Although written to partially explain how the Christian faith of these parents and some of the staff helped them through their individual ordeals, it was not offensive. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the wonder of new life.

This book is an incredible look at the lives of babies born at the extreme edge of viability, their families, medical teams, and support networks. Our family has lived through most of the same things as the featured families since our daughter was born ten months ago - 17 weeks early at 23 weeks gestation, weighing only 18 ounces. I read this book in one day and found myself reliving the past year, through many sad, and joyful tears. The authors do a wonderful job of expressing, in ways I never could, the intense emotional journey involved in caring for an extremely premature child. Better yet, the lessons we can learn about life, love, and faith, through these six babies' stories are beautifully explained. The book is already helping repair my heart from the past year's trauma.I highly recommend this book for any premature baby's parent, caregiver, or medical staff as a way to clarify your feelings. I also recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about faith, prayer, and compassion in the midst of crisis. I appreciate the authors' willingness to write the book, and the families' openness with their lives.