‘Behind those walls of the NICU lies the tiniest fighters’

Jessica Arnstrom, a mother of 3, hopes to work in a neonatal intensive care unit or labor and delivery one day.

Part of her goal may be based on an experience she had in 2018 when Arnstrom, at age 39, was in her third semester of Joliet Junior College’s nursing program, according to a news release from JJC.

“This experience completely changed my view on life and how fragile it can be,” Arnstrom said in the release. “It opened my eyes as a future nurse very much so.”

At the time Arnstrom was the mother of a teenage son and daughter. She was also expecting her third child. But at 15 weeks gestation, she experienced premature rupture of her membranes, according to JJC.

“I basically had no amniotic fluid and no amniotic sac,” Arnstrom said in the release. “This diagnosis has a less than one percent survival of the fetus, especially that early in the pregnancy. I went to the JJC campus and tearfully had to medically withdrawal due to mentally not being able to concentrate, and if somehow my pregnancy continued, I faced long-term hospitalization.”

She stayed home, prayed and bought a fetal doppler online to monitor his heartbeat, which kept beating, she said.

“And, miraculously, he kept growing,” she said in the release.

At 23 weeks, Arnstrom was admitted to hospital for bed rest. At 29 weeks gestation, Talan was born via emergency Cesarean section. He “was immediately intubated, sedated, and placed on life support” and “doctors performed a series of life-saving measures” that night,” JJC said.

But Talan “continued to shock the medical world,” Arnstrom said in the release.

Talan, who was born May 5, 2018, came home Aug. 9, on his 97th day, she said in the release.

In the meantime, Arnstrom’s classmates from the nursing program graduated from JJC. Arnstrom figured her dream of pursing a nursing career might be done. She wasn’t certain if she’d retained enough knowledge to even continue with the program.

But Arnstrom wanted to finish, and the nursing department checked in with her from time to time.

“After three semesters out, I returned to my third semester of nursing school with the evening students in August 2019,” Arnstrom said.

She started working in the medical field this past October and is currently an oncology nurse, JJC said.

Nancy Seymour, one of Arnstrom’s nursing professors, spoke highly of Arnstrom’s skills.

“Sometimes we choose a career in a field that has impacted the lives of those we love, and it forever changes us,” Seymour said in the release. “Jessica is an outstanding patient advocate and works to ensure her patients’ needs are known by the healthcare team. This level of compassion, empathy and critical thinking was deeply enriched by her pervious personal journey.”

Arnstrom wants to earn her Bachelor of Science in nursing so she can work in labor and delivery or a neonatal intensive care unit one day.

“Behind those walls of the NICU lies the tiniest fighters, the extreme unknown, the saddest heartbreak, and pure miracles,” Arnstrom said in the release.

Talan, at 3, is one of them. He was recently “physically and cognitively” cleared to attend preschool.