by Hand to Hold Staff | Sep 5, 2016 | Life after the NICU
Sometimes you don’t need to fight for your child. Sometimes they can just play, just be. Sometimes, for parents preemies or special needs kids, it’s hard to know when it is one of those “sometimes.” When my son was born at 23 weeks gestation, I...
by Hand to Hold Staff | Aug 22, 2016 | Life after the NICU
My breastfeeding journey began kind of hectic, you could say. I had just had a c-section, effectively birthing a 26-weeker, and was whisked to a recovery room where nurses hooked me up to a breast pump and told me I had to do this now! Of course I was thankful for the...
by Hand to Hold Staff | Aug 15, 2016 | Life after the NICU
My preemie just finished his first few weeks of preschool. After a rocky first few days, everyone says he is doing just fine. I was so surprised to hear that, considering neither one of us handles transitions well. (I think having a certain stuffed blue Rhino with him...
by Hand to Hold Staff | Aug 4, 2016 | Life after the NICU, NICU Life
My preemie, Theo, never latched, so I exclusively pumped for over sixteen months, ending only because my supply stopped. During that time I logged many hours (many of them in the middle of the night) with my Kindle, devouring books and binge-watching TV shows....
by Hand to Hold Staff | Jul 11, 2016 | Life after the NICU, NICU Life
Preemies are not small full-term babies, and parenting a preemie is its own unique roller coaster of joys and challenges separate from the standard newborn experience. Here are 9 ways the experience of parenting preemies is unique. Having a preemie begins a journey,...
by Hand to Hold Staff | May 30, 2016 | Life after the NICU
Sometimes I resented it like crazy that I had to ask to hold my preemie. Then, to make it that much worse, sometimes it felt like he was being yanked from my arms. And sometimes he was because he had stopped breathing. Another time, a nurse actually reprimanded me for...
