Blog
Joining a NICU Support Group: How to Find and Connect with Others Who Understand
Are you navigating a challenging experience, such as having a baby in the NICU? You might feel alone or isolated during this difficult time. Please know that you don’t have to go through it alone. Joining a NICU support group can provide the comfort and connection you...
Know Someone in the NICU? 10 Things You Can Do to Help
This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated to ensure the content is current and relevant for NICU families. One of your friends just landed themselves in the NICU. Let me guess. You want to help, but you have no idea what to say or what...
5 Self-Care Tips for NICU Parents
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From One NICU Dad To Another: You’re Going To Do Great!
This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated to ensure the content is current and relevant for NICU families. If you're a new NICU dad, I have good news: you're going to do great. I have never met anyone who, while in the process of trying to...
NICU Parent Perspective: I Didn’t Always Show Up for My Mental Health
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and as we all are faced with unprecedented times, it is the perfect time to check in with ourselves. Like really check in and truly answer the question, “How am I doing?” For me, most days are a range of emotions: fear,...
NICU Parent Perspective: When Depression Rears Its Ugly Head
Photo credit: Jodiellen Photography My appointment reminder goes off and I silence it with a glance. Fifteen minutes until therapy. I swallow the “ugh” ready to come out of my mouth, thinking, “Therapy? No time for that!” This is the inner dialogue every week. Then...
Professional Insight: Instant Tools to Help You De-Stress During Your NICU Stay
If your baby is in the NICU, you probably feel stressed, overwhelmed and worried about your baby’s health - among many other issues. Most parents are so focused on their babies—understandably so—they forget about themselves and their own emotional well-being. I’m...
Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorders: What They Are and How You Can Get Help
In the days and months after having a baby, our hormones and emotions are still fluctuating. Sometimes these feelings are mild and only last a few days. But sometimes they can be more intense, involve intrusive thoughts, and you may not see a light at the end of...
#MyMentalHealthMatters – Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month
For May’s Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re focusing on why it’s important for moms to prioritize their own mental health. Together we can raise awareness, remove stigmas and encourage mothers to care for themselves so they can heal, thrive and grow during and after a NICU stay or the loss of an infant.
The Power of Scent Cloths + No-Sew Scent Cloth Instructions
Many parents envision bonding with their baby shortly after birth. But for a NICU parent, bonding takes on a whole new meaning.
NICU Parent Perspective: Special Education in the Time of Social Distancing
Our son, who was born at 29-weeks, is now a healthy, happy, first grader who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at age 4. He also struggles with some significant motor delays. Up until the COVID-19 crisis hit and the schools closed, he had been receiving occupational, physical and speech therapy. He also participated in a social/emotional/behavioral support group daily. Now, how frequently he receives therapy depends on when either me, or my husband, can take a break from our increasingly demanding work schedules.