Today we are chatting with a couple of incredibly powerful women about a potentially less desired topic.  Our intention is to bring awareness to mamas and families dealing with premature birth. In honor of World Prematurity Day this coming Saturday, November 17th, we are talking about our tiny warriors and their warrior mamas. We are speaking about the miracles that exist to provide hope and to empower the mamas in the trenches of dealing with prematurity, the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and all of the fears and anxieties that come along with it. We have some incredibly inspiring and well-versed guests who have plenty of experience with this: Charleyne Oulton and Riana Luck.       Charleyne is a confident and happy mom of three children who were all born prematurely. Charleyne has a passion for writing and is a well recognized published author with Golden Brick Road Publishing House and regular contributor for YGTMAMA. She is a popular health and wellness coach with It Works, works in the Royal Canadian Navy as a Reservist and is a Pisces who lives on beautiful Vancouver Island, BC. She is also an upcoming contributor in You’ve Got This Mama Too and You’ve Got This, Healthy Mama. Charleyne shares a brief snippet of her story. She has three children that were all born prematurely, within thirty-two months of each other. She had no idea that she was at risk for premature delivery. She was so uneducated around any other possibility of a birth plan other than a full term healthy pregnancy. She claims that it was horrible and terrifying, an event that she still suffers from PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) because of. Her first son’s birthday brings up mixed emotions, joy is combined with having to relive really scary times. Her second pregnancy had her more prepared with the risks of premature delivery only because of her previous experience. The lead up to her son Jeffrie’s birth was terrifying but born at twenty-eight weeks, he was a fighter and her strongest preemie. Less than a year later her daughter Juley Anne was born at twenty-six weeks, at less than 2 lbs. Her pregnancy was the most joyful pregnancy. She knew that she was going to have another preemie, her waters ruptured at twenty-two weeks and she was encouraged to terminate the pregnancy because the baby would not be viable at that time. She chose life and decided to try to try to keep her inside as long as possible. Combined she spent 110 days in the NICU with what she calls her little ‘miracles’. Riana is the mom of five; seven-year-old triplet boys, a four-year-old daughter, and a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Four out the five were preemie babies that spent a total of 119 days in the NICU. Riana is also an owner of two businesses, one being a successful cheerleading gym in Red Deer called Premier Academy, and co-owner of three others. She is also an upcoming contributor in You’ve Got This, Boss Mama. Riana shares that one of the biggest struggles from her NICU time was when she had other children at home depending on her and missing her. With her triplets, although it was hard, it was expected and they knew what they were in for. There were no other children at home who also needed attention, so they could devote all their time to be in the NICU. When her waters burst early with her last pregnancy she walked into the hospital in tears. She knew the long road ahead, and a lot more tears were shed as a coping mechanism. She also praises our outstanding health care system: “It’s amazing what they can do for these little babies.” We are here to bring awareness to this difficult topic. Riana starts off by sharing her two different NICU experiences. Her triplet sons were born at thirty-one weeks, five days, which was expected and actually very good for triplets. Even though almost thirty-two weeks is a great milestone for triplets,