We also discovered that personality plays a role as well in how well children cope with this visible reminder of their early birth. Some children have developed coping strategies for dealing with the questions of other children. However as they approach teenage years appearance and scars may cause more anguish in their lives. I hope that she keeps the same nonchalant attitude in her teens. On one level, these scars of prematurity are battle scars and they attest visibly to our children's fight for suvival.
Scars are a worthwhile trade for the gift of life.
Some vary lasting scars come from techniques as simple as bandaids and tape. While the physical appearance of preemies when they grow up to be teens and adults seems almost unreal when these little babies are still in the NICU battling for survival, these children will live with their scars for all their days.