When our twins were born at just 31 weeks, it was a very scary
time for us and our families.
Weighing in at just above 3 pounds each,
they both were sent straight to the NICU where they stayed for the next
five weeks. During this time, the caring nurses, doctors and staff in
the NICU did their best to help us get through it while concentrating on
the needs of our children above all else. Putting the care of your
little ones in the hands of someone else for such a long time is hard.
We learned a lot about patience and trust during this time. We also
learned some valuable ways to help spend our time and to help us get
through the stay and we wanted to pass some advice on to you to help you
as well.
First and foremost you need to ask questions. These are
your children and you need to know everything that is going on. Asking
questions does not mean you are questioning the doctors and nurses, it
means you are doing your job as a parent to help make sure that you know
and understand what each procedure, each test, each wire hooked up to
your baby means. Write down everything that the doctors tell you. So
much information is being told to you that it is easy to forget or get
confused. Keep a journal of the NICU time to share with your child and
to write down your thoughts, hopes, worries, etc.
Take lots of
pictures. They will change daily and you need to record this. You will
want pictures of the first time that you can finally hold them because
that is an awesome day. Don't allow friends or family that are sick to
visit, no matter how hard this might be. This includes you too! You
don't want to give your child a cold or the flue when they are already
fighting to get big, strong and healthy.
Get plenty of rest and
take care of yourself and get rest so that you will be well rested when
your child comes home. If you have other children and they can be calm
in the NICU, it is good to take them in and make them feel a part of it
all. If, however, they become upset or rambunctious, you need to take
them out of the NICU because this is not good for the calm, quiet
atmosphere that the NICU tries to have for their little inhabitants.
The
most important thing to keep in mind is that the health and wellbeing
of your child comes before anything else. If this means asking for a
second opinion, asking a million questions or staying at home because
you are feeling a little under the weather then you need to do it. You
need to do what you can to help yourself get through this and to prepare
for your child to come home.
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