by David Rainey | May 16, 2016 | Emotional Health, Family Stories, Fatherhood, Life after the NICU, Pregnancy & Bedrest
Over the years, my wife has asked me many questions seconds after I fall asleep. Typically her questions cycle through the topics of shutting the garage, taking out the trash, locking the front door, or hearing a sound outside. Her timing is impeccable. “Do you think...
by Eric Ruthford | Feb 1, 2016 | Family Stories, Fatherhood, Life after the NICU
I sat, nervous and emotional, in a room of about a dozen hospital administrators and said, “It would help if you started by telling parents like us, ‘Your child is welcome in our nursery.'” They all nodded and I felt like their faces showed I had...
by Eric Ruthford | Jan 4, 2016 | Family Stories, Fatherhood
Miri and I dutifully wrote in our CaringBridge Journal almost every day during Gabriel’s five-month NICU stay. We updated relatives and friends on how Gabriel was doing. Also, we described the really cool systems and procedures that go on in the NICU — we...
by Eric Ruthford | Aug 10, 2015 | Family Stories, Fatherhood, Life after the NICU
Having a barfy baby in public will quickly make you understand who nearby is a parent themselves. Being parents of a child who eats by tube feeding (which aggravates reflux), we have had this experience often. One memorable moment was two years ago when we stepped out...
by Eric Ruthford | Jul 15, 2015 | Emotional Health, Family Stories, Fatherhood, NICU Life
There comes a point in a long NICU stay when the nurses have said about six times that you’re the “most intensely committed parent” they’ve seen in a while, and you’re beginning to understand that this is not necessarily a compliment. Even though they’re trained to...
by Melissa McMurchy | Jun 22, 2015 | Family Stories, Fatherhood
When you get a phone call from the hospital telling you that they are going to transfer your wife and deliver your twins 3 months early, everything stops. The next thing I know, I’m leaving work and on my way back to the hospital. Melissa was pretty out of it...
