NICU

a good friend from my NICU support group wrote this for me. and this is what it was like. This is William and Nora, on December 29, 2011 just 2 days old and both just over 2 pounds.

ONLY A NICU PARENT KNOWS:

-THE PAIN OF HEARING A WOMAN IN HER THIRD TRIMESTER IGNORANTLY COMPLAINING ABOUT HER PREGNANCY AND WONDERING WHAT THAT WOULD BE LIKE

-the fear of seeing their child for the first time.

-that Brady's are not referring to the Brady Bunch.

-what CPAP means

-the pain of not holding your child for days

-the workings of an isolette.

-what each beep means.

-how important kangaroo care is (to baby and mom/dad).

-that a parent's job is to fix whatever hurts their child - and know the pain of realizing   you can't.

-what a PICC Line is.

-just how important surfactant is, and what it is for that matter.

-understands the realism of adjusted ages.

-what it feels like to cry the first time you see your baby in a crib.

-the agony over sending birth announcements.

-how amazing tiny fingers feel clenched to your hand.

-finally understands the metric system.

-there are no choices in the NICU - you have to be strong.

-cracked and bleeding hands from washing them so much and coating them constantly with hand sanitizer.

-how hard it is to trust 100+ people you have never met before care for the child for whom you have waited a lifetime.

-what it's like to argue with each other over who changes the diaper - because you both want to - its a chance to touch your baby.

-every inch of their NICU, what walls they cried against, what nurseries they 'lived in', -what shifts each doctor, nurse, therapist, and staff member works.

-that you will be a germaphobe for at least the next 2 years, people will think you are weird, and you will know you are literally saving your child's life.

-50 nurses by name, and their kids' names.

-Can give better directions to the cafeteria, gift shop and parking lot than the employees.

-that every day in the NICU makes you one of the lucky ones.

-just how important each new day is and how much significance a new day holds.

-Sure, every day to a parent of a healthy, full term baby means a lot, but we go in not knowing... and that is scary

This is William and Nora on August 11, 2012. 7 1/2 months old and thriving.