My Story:

“my refuge and fortress” words that are forever imprinted on my heart and now on my Tiny Tags necklace. It means the world to me to wear my two NICU miracles’ names around my neck, along with this phrase from Psalm 91. Quinn and Owen are 3 years apart but their stories are very similar. Our 3 year old daughter, Quinn, silently aspirated at birth and suffered severe heart and lung trauma that kept her in the NICU for 9 and a half weeks. As a brand new mama, my heart broke into a million pieces watching her fight for her life. I would stand over her tiny bed and just pray, sing, talk to her, and kiss her head. I said Psalm 91 over her constantly and believed that God would be her refuge and fortress and that He would heal her. She came home happy and whole, with a feeding tube in her stomach to help her eat and grow—a superpower she still has to this day!

Three years later our son, Owen, was born and also suffered lung trauma at birth. Bilateral pneumothorax, to be exact, and it was terrifying to watch my second baby struggle. Owen had a shorter NICU stay than his sister, but I found myself claiming the same promise from God that He was with us and that He was our hope. Just as I did with Quinn, I clung to Psalm 91 and read it to Owen multiple times a day. Because even in our scariest and most vulnerable times, God was our refuge and fortress. I will forever teach my children how miraculous their lives are and how their journeys taught me to have more faith than I ever thought I could. Thank you, Tiny Tags, for this beautiful, timeless, tangible way to remember their stories.