Dear New NICU mom, I'm sure your head is spinning, and you may still be trying to recover from the shock of ending up here, as a NICU parent.ย Take a moment and breathe.ย You might have to remind yourself...
One NICU mom shares the routines that kept her feeling in control and sane while staying healthy. "My son, who I will refer to as โWโ, was born at 29 weeks after a sudden onset of PreEclampsia and HELLP syndrome. From the time I arrived at the Emergency Department, to the time W was delivered was less than 7 hours.
Motherโs Day was the first holiday I spent outside the NICU once my son W, a former 29 weeker, was discharged following a 7 week stay. I remember waking early that morning to nurse, and sitting in the rocker in his nursery watching the sun rise and sipping a cup of hot coffee (a life saver, am I right?!) and just think
Today feels eerily similar to the first several weeks being home from the NICU. In this current pandemic from COVID-19, we are all being urged to practice social distancing, to stay home and only go out to the public if and when absolutely necessary...it feels familiar, like a case of deja vu with my preemie.
While youโre experiencing the emotional high of bringing your preemie home, you canโt help but to feel panic-ridden as well. You are SO not alone. Your feelings and fears are common. It is important that you face those fears with the utmost of confidence, positivity, and strength.
NICU Mom Guest Post about her experience as a trauma-informed therapist who had preemie twins in the NICU. She offers 7 clear and simple instructions for how to get started finding a therapist to help with NICU related trauma and depression. NICU parents have high rates of PTSD and need help knowing how to get help.
NICU mother and preemie twin mom Stephanie shares her powerful insight into the struggles she faced when her twins needed to be separated into two separate hospitals. The NICU experience was a profound struggle, with one son requiring surgery for NEC, but through it she learned much. It's hard parenting NICU twins!
Guest blogger Sara Bollinger shares with us her NICU adventures and her personal experience with this inspiring Beads of Courage organization. "I am the mother to a three-year-old son who is a former 25 week micro-preemie. Everett arrived weighing 1 pound 13 ounces and spent almost six months hospitalized