Child's Birth Year
2023

State/Province/Territory
New Jersey

NICU Hospital for my journey
Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center

My NICU Graduate's Journey
Phillip & Margaux, born at 28 weeks, both needed assistance breathing & eating. Phillip had a hole in his heart and needed medication due to his heart rate reaching 276 bpm. Margaux had only one kidney that was fully functional. They were so tiny and bruised from being cramped inside the womb and needed light therapy. After some time, they were able to be in the same pod together, which I think made their growth more speedy. The nun visited them everyday, and they had primary daytime nurses and nighttime nurses who loved them immensely. In fact, the Koza Twins became so loved and well-known in the NICU (as did their parents) that when graduation finally came, the social worker bought them tiny caps and gowns and tears were shed.

What makes you proud of you NICU graduate?
Their entry into the world was traumatic. All three of us (mother included) got many blood transfusions. There were so many days when I felt like we would never bond and they would never know I was their mother. Just as I would start to get very down, Margaux would come off the oxygen machine. Once Margaux made such an accomplishment, it was as if it motivated Phillip to do the same, about a week or two later. Then the feeding tubes. They fought so hard and they fought together. They will have always been in my womb together and then in the NICU together. They are miracles and I am in pure awe of them.

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
3 lbs 2 oz & 2 lbs

Weeks Gestation
28 Weeks

Time spent in the NICU (Specify Day, Month, or Year)
80 Days