Our latest Facebook Chat took place on Wednesday, July 30th at 8:30p.m. CT. Our guest was Trish Ringley, NICU nurse, blogger and preemie advocate over at NICU Central. This was a unique chat, where attendees were able to ‘ASK A NICU NURSE’.
Trish Ringley, RN, is a mother of two and has been a NICU nurse since 1997, practicing in Alaska, Colorado and California. She is a passionate NICU-parent advocate and has recently become active in the online world of NICU parent support. Initially she began blogging about the NICU from a nurse’s perspective at NICU Central, and more recently she created a beautiful online store that is devoted exclusively to serving the needs of NICU families, called EVERYtinyTHING. When she’s not at work at the NICU, you can find her on Facebook, blogging at NICU Central, or most of the time spreading a little joy through her store.
See the entire chat below:
Due to Preeclampsia, my daughter was born on May 27, 2015 at 34 weeks. After the c-section, she weighed 3 pounds and 13 ounces. She has now been in the NICU for almost 4 weeks. She doesnt have any problems other than her heart rate drops. Today, she weighs 5 pounds and 7 ounces finally! But USA Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Mobile, Alabama has done a fantastic job on taking care of her. I’m having a little trouble understanding why they won’t send her home to me. She has passed all of her trials and screenings but they tell me she can’t come home until she doesnt have any more heart rate drops. Theyre already sending her home on an apnea monitor also. If anybody can just help me understand or just explain to me the reasoning of keeping her still, that would be so helpful. This has been a very tough time for me. I’m only 19 years old and this experience has effected me immensely. Thank you so much !! JADAS MOMMY 🙂
Hi Cierra,
I’m so sorry you are going through this. I would advise asking your nurses and your neonatologist if they can give you a good explanation of why its so important to wait until there are no more heart rate drops. As your baby’s advocate, there are no wrong or dumb questions to ask. I hope you get the answers you are looking for and your little one gets to come home soon. 🙂