Only a NICU Parent…

August 17, 2012

I found this spot-on list on Baby Girl Bown, absolutely loved it, and wanted to share…

(I tweaked it slightly to better suit our Life after NICU audience.)

Only a NICU Parent

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Would be excited about…

increased feedings.
5 grams of weight gain.
O2 levels.
an inch in length.
seeing the eyes of a 4-week-old for the very first time.
poopy diapers
graduating beds.
going to the intermediate nursery.
dread walking out of those doors to go home to sleep.
10:00pm or 5:00am phone calls to let you know your little one did something good/new.
going to the hospital (hey, we get to see our kids!).
CPR classes (they’re coming home soon!).
outgrowing clothes.
hearing your baby cry for the first time, weeks old and crying just as hard in joy.

Knows…

the fear of seeing their child for the first time.
that Brady’s are not referring to the Brady Bunch.
what CPAP means.
the pain of not holding your child for days
the workings of an isolette.
what each beep means.
how important kangaroo care is (to baby and mom/dad).
that a parent’s job is to fix whatever hurts their child – and know the pain of realizing you can’t.
what a PICC Line is.
just how important surfactant is, and what it is for that matter.
and understands the realism of adjusted ages.
what it feels like to cry the first time you see your baby in a crib.
the agony over sending birth announcements.
how amazing tiny fingers feel clenched to your hand.
the pain of hearing a woman in her third trimester complaining about her pregnancy, and wondering that that would be like.
and finally understands the metric system.
there are no choices in the NICU – you have to be strong.
cracked and bleeding hands from washing them so much and coating them constantly with hand sanitizer.
how hard it is to trust 100+ people you have never met before care for the child for whom you have waited a lifetime.
what it’s like to argue with each other over who changes the diaper – because you both want to – its a chance to touch your baby.
every inch of their NICU, what walls they cried against, what nurseries they ‘lived in’, what shifts each doctor, nurse, therapist, and staff member works.
that you will be a germaphobe for at least the next 2 years, people will think you are weird, and you will know you are literally saving your child’s life.
50 nurses by name, and their kids’ names.
can give better directions to the cafeteria, gift shop and parking lot than the employees.
that every day in the NICU makes you one of the lucky ones.
just how important each new day is and how much significance a new day holds. Sure, every day to a parent of a healthy, full term baby means a lot, but we go in not knowing… and that is scary.