MOTHER GRATEFUL FOR SON’S EXPERT NICU CARE Young Connor Is Now Thriving After Six Months At Wellington Regional Medical Center STORY BY ALLEN POSTON | PHOTOS BY RYAN MERRILL
When Brianne Sater thinks about her son’s premature birth and subsequent stay at Wellington Regional Medical Center’s Kevin DiLallo Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, she can’t help getting emotional with gratitude. Born at 27 weeks in September 2019, her son Connor spent six months in the hospital’s NICU. Her pregnancy had proceeded normally until about a week before Connor’s birth, when Sater said she felt as if her water broke. Contractions began, but she thought they were Braxton Hicks contractions, also known as false labor. Sater became concerned when the contractions began to arrive closer together. “I called my mom, and she told me that I was in labor and to get to the hospital. My boyfriend picked me up, and we went to Wellington Regional Medical Center,” Sater recalled. When she arrived, Sater was immediately taken to labor and delivery. “I was hooked up to monitors, and the doctor came in and told me they could see my baby’s bottom. In minutes, Connor was born breech, weighing just 2 pounds, 1 ounce, and he was 13.5 inches long,” Sater said. “The doctor let me quickly see him, but then they took him to the NICU, telling me they were 22
july 2022 | wellington the magazine
Brianne Sater with her son Connor, who is doing well after a six-month stay in the NICU.