Two Pounds Too Early

Melissa is an Arlington Public Schools teacher. She teaches technology education at the Gibbs School and has been on board since it opened in 2018.

Melissa and her husband were blessed with twin boys. Matthew and Andrew were born on October 28, 2022. Weighing in at 2 pounds each, the boys were born 15 weeks early.

The boys are receiving care in the NICU at one of Boston’s top hospitals. The road ahead is going to be a long and difficult one. It will be months before Melissa brings her boys home.

Melissa spends close to 8 hours a day in the NICU caring for her boys. She is able to talk to them, sing to them and read to them. On a good day she is able to hold them. Most of Melissa’s time is spent monitoring the boys’ vital signs as well as hoping and praying that the results of the day’s tests yield positive results. It is exhausting both physically and mentally but Melissa is doing what any mom would do.

Unfortunately, Melissa doesn’t know how much longer she will be able to do this. Her paid leave has run out. Her required bed rest before the boys were born used up a lot of her earned time. She has no choice but to consider going back to work. This is heart wrenching. Those boys need their mom.

Please help Melissa! Any donation would be greatly appreciated.