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Scot, Brenda & ‘Mr. Anthony’

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Scot explains, “Brenda had a high-risk pregnancy due to high blood pressure. During the third trimester, they told us the baby was in a breach position, and the plan was to manually turn him and maybe an emergency C-section. ‘Mr. Anthony’ must have heard that through the womb, because he turned himself around. That’s when I realized he was going to do things his own way.”

Anthony was born nearly two months before the due date—he was 2 pounds, 13 ounces—and moved to an incubator in the NICU. According to Scot, “I told Mr. Anthony, ‘All you have to do is get up to 4 lbs., and we can blow this popsicle stand. You can have your own room, invite other babies over for parties, 24 hour room service, I will make you vice president of my empire and the best thing of all NO INCUBATOR.’ He must have heard that, because he started sucking down those bottles.” Anthony was discharged 20 days early.

“The nurses argued with me about how he was going to be developmentally behind,” said Scot. “That’s when Healthy Families [America] got involved. We signed up for Healthy Families in the hospital.

“Healthy Families brings experts into your home every week, and you can ask them anything. Their compassion is off the charts, and the developmental activities and information they bring is more than beneficial, it is essential to bridge the gap in Mr. Anthony’s developmental growing curve. These are people that know what they’re doing, and they have your best interests at heart. They don’t do all the work for you; they do half and you have to do the other half.

“Thanks to…Healthy Families, they have brought us instruments and information to help us become better parents. Brenda and I get to enjoy our time with Mr. Anthony, knowing that what we’re doing with him is helping him shrink his developmental growing curve and to help him stay on track.”

See more of Scot and Mr. Anthony’s story in the video below:

What [home visitor] Betsy brings every week is tailored to Anthony and where he is developmentally at that time. They come to where you’re comfortable and where the baby is comfortable, and give you tools and information you can use right away…Betsy has her own nurturing and strategic style of playing with Mr. Anthony, which helps us learn the skills to work with him. Plus, she gives Brenda and me different things to do based on our parenting styles. You can’t get that at the hospital, a school, or the library.

Scot, Healthy Families America dad

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Healthy Families America

We promote child well-being and prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation’s children by delivering home visiting services that empower families and communities.

Healthy Families America is the signature home visiting program of Prevent Child Abuse America.

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