My husband and I have two NICU babies. Our older child, Parker, will be 4 in February. His original due date was mid-April of 2020, and he was born February 25th at about 33 weeks. We were never given a reason for his early arrival, but we think it had something to do with my hormone levels. We were very nervous about having a baby in the hospital during COVID, but the staff was so helpful.
One nurse, an older woman, stood out to us. She was fantastic and had such a wonderful attitude. She would take time to sit with us in our room and talk to us. We shared a lot of our feelings of anxiety with her, and she always knew the right things to say. Parker’s stay was uneventful in the grand scheme of things. He was mainly there for growing and feeding. Once he was able to master that, he got to come home with us about 24 days later. We were the first couple to use the couplet room.
With our second pregnancy, I was on extra hormones to help prevent preterm labor; however, I still had my second son, Landon, early as well due to a placental abruption. I had him at 31 weeks gestation. I gave birth to him 15 minutes after arriving at the hospital by ambulance. I had no time for any kind of medication or anything; I was very scared and worried. Landon was originally due in mid-January of 2022, and I had him in mid-November of 2021.
He was born just over 4 pounds and had a collapsed lung. He was on ventilators and breathing machines for quite a while until the situation with his lung resolved itself. That took a while, and then he had to learn to take a bottle. Landon was in the NICU until just after Christmas. We knew what to expect from the NICU this time around, but we still relied a lot on the NICU staff and the family support group. Everyone at FSNCC was so helpful and kind. We liked having the food and gas vouchers; that helped us a lot because money was really tight, as I’m sure it is with a lot of folks. We also enjoyed the Books for Babies program and the sibling bags that FSNCC sent home to our older child.
If there is any advice I could offer to those currently in the middle of a NICU stay, it would be to focus on one day at a time. Don’t focus too much on how long the stay will be. When it’s all said and done, a NICU stay will just be a small blip on your radar. Kids grow up so fast; it will blow your mind that you once had a tiny baby in the NICU. Don’t forget to take time for yourself and take tons of pictures. Good or bad memories, you will want pictures of them all.
Love,
April Mattina