The NICU is the sweetest and scariest place on Earth. It’s filled with amazing, tiny babies who were born too early to do things like breathe and eat on their own, but who have the spirit of a lion. It’s also filled with the most dedicated, passionate medical workers you can imagine! That winning combo of lion babies and miracle workers means lots of happy stories. Still, the days can be long! My baby spent 12 weeks and 1 day in the NICU, and here’s a checklist of what worked for me:
tips for surviving a long NICU stay
Attend rounds – Try to be there everyday (or as often as possible). Know what treatments your baby is receiving and on what timelines. You can be the advocate and the continuity for your baby. If you have a question or thought, share it! Your medical team is likely awesome and happy to help! I also suggest writing down the information and saving it. It’s really cool to look back at now! …show more content…
I had an RN, NP, and Dr. who were amazing. They knew my daughter incredibly well, and I knew I could go to them at anytime (even if they didn’t have her that day) and talk to them. With the PIE, they would say “We can’t give you any guarantees, but most babies with PIE recover. Most of those babies go home. Today is a good day and there’s no reason we should focus on anything other than her going home around her due date.”
Create a mantra – This started out because I was super scared and I started to say a mantra to myself in the mirror. Then I started telling my daughter every single day, every time I left her bedside. I would say: “Kennedy is strong. Kennedy will be happy, healthy, and home soon.” Tell your baby about his room, your house, pets (or whatever). Our baby was very, very sick, and not going home was a very real possibility, but in our heads, that option didn’t exist. She was a fighter and we weren’t about to doubt her.
The NICU is a scary place, but miracles happen every single
tips for surviving a long NICU stay
Attend rounds – Try to be there everyday (or as often as possible). Know what treatments your baby is receiving and on what timelines. You can be the advocate and the continuity for your baby. If you have a question or thought, share it! Your medical team is likely awesome and happy to help! I also suggest writing down the information and saving it. It’s really cool to look back at now! …show more content…
I had an RN, NP, and Dr. who were amazing. They knew my daughter incredibly well, and I knew I could go to them at anytime (even if they didn’t have her that day) and talk to them. With the PIE, they would say “We can’t give you any guarantees, but most babies with PIE recover. Most of those babies go home. Today is a good day and there’s no reason we should focus on anything other than her going home around her due date.”
Create a mantra – This started out because I was super scared and I started to say a mantra to myself in the mirror. Then I started telling my daughter every single day, every time I left her bedside. I would say: “Kennedy is strong. Kennedy will be happy, healthy, and home soon.” Tell your baby about his room, your house, pets (or whatever). Our baby was very, very sick, and not going home was a very real possibility, but in our heads, that option didn’t exist. She was a fighter and we weren’t about to doubt her.
The NICU is a scary place, but miracles happen every single