It is with personal pride that I can say Superior Floorcoverings & Kitchens is flooring the Chambersburg Hospital NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).
I’ll never forget the day my daughter, my first child, was born 7 weeks early. My wife was sure it was Braxton Hicks contractions and she was expecting to be monitored and sent home. Much to our surprise, she arrived at Chambersburg Hospital, only 33 weeks pregnant, and 5 centimeters dilated. She was too far along in labor to be sent to Hershey for delivery. We were at a stage where our baby would probably be okay, but we were distressed to hear that Chambersburg Hospital could not guarantee us that they had the resources to care for our baby after she was born. They explained that it was a very real possibility that that she could be sent via helicopter to Hershey Medical Center immediately after birth. They further explained that my wife would still remain a patient of the Chambersburg Hospital until her own discharge. For my wife, it was frightening knowing that she had to push our baby out early, being uncertain the whole time whether she would be whisked away as soon as she laid eyes on her. For myself, I was burdened with the decision to remain by my wife's side or leave her and follow the helicopter to Hershey.
When she was born, she was beautiful and perfect; 4 pounds 9½ ounces and 19 inches long. My wife got to hold her for the first few minutes and during that time, we thought perhaps they were wrong… that she was not that early and everything was fine. Once they took her, we did not see her again until the next day. She was on oxygen support, being treated for jaundice, was unable to maintain her own body temperature, and needed a feeding tube, because she was using more energy than she was gaining when trying to eat. Our daughters size and condition confirmed to the Hospital staff that their 33 week estimate was correct. Even though a couple days after delivery my wife was discharged, we had to go home without our daughter. While we were not permitted to stay with her, I cannot describe what a relief it was that our baby was able to stay at Chambersburg Hospital. The whole experience would have been exponentially more frightening and stressful if she had been taken away. In all, our daughter spent her first nine days in the Chambersburg Hospital. Thankfully unlike Hershery, the Hospital was only minutes away. We could easily visit her as often as we wanted for as long as we wanted, without all of the logistical and financial worries of traveling.
We were lucky. I am sure not all families are so lucky, or we would not have received the warning that perhaps our daughter could not be cared for locally. Now, as we are expecting our forth child, I am pleased to hear that, with the addition of a NICU, Chambersburg Hospital will, without question, be prepared to care for my wife and my baby if a similar situation should happen again. Delivering a premature baby is a frightening experience, and now Chambersburg residents can have the comfort of knowing that a moderately premature baby has access to the resources for a strong and healthy start…right here at home!
All that being said... it is an honor to be employed with a group of people trusted in the community to be tasked with flooring Summit Health's Chambersburg Hospital NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Thank You.
Learn more about Summit Health's NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) > at SummitHeatlh.org - NICU
