by Hand to Hold Staff | Apr 6, 2017 | Medical Info & Resources, Professional Insight
Raising a kid with special health and developmental needs can seem daunting. Often we come home from the NICU with a list of follow-up appointments to make, screenings to do and specialists to see. In honor of Occupational Therapy Month, we spoke with Rebecca Pokluda,...
by Hand to Hold Staff | Apr 3, 2017 | Family Stories, Life after the NICU
by Kaylee Gort “How did you get that scar?” a curious child asks. She is referring to the “V” shaped scar on the right side of my stomach, just above my hips. While others have commented that the scar is “weird,” I have never found shame in it. “Are you talking...
by Hand to Hold Staff | Mar 30, 2017 | NICU Life, Siblings
Sibling love is a tough journey for any family and even harder when you have a baby in the NICU. Learning to manage your own emotions, as well as the guilt and stress that comes with having a medically fragile child, can come at a large cost. When you add siblings...
by Hand to Hold Staff | Mar 27, 2017 | Life after the NICU, Mental Health
My son is nearly 15 months old. Some days I look at my busy, clumsy toddler and forget that the NICU ever happened. Other days I remember it like it was yesterday, the memories of our month in the NICU still so vividly alive in my mind. Where we currently live, I...
by Hand to Hold Staff | Mar 23, 2017 | Life after the NICU, Medical Info & Resources, NICU Life, Nutrition
by Anne Boon, MS, CCC-SLP After being intubated with a breathing tube for so many months Bryce’s ‘suck muscles’ were weak and trying to feed from the bottle took so much energy that he would tire out before filling his belly. We supplemented tube feedings by way of an...