Blog
Peer Support vs. Counseling: Which is right for you?
When it comes to finding the right support to guide you through the NICU and help you process your experiences, you may be curious about the options available through Hand to Hold. Here we’ll talk about two types of support Hand to Hold offers: peer support and...
Cerebral Palsy: What to Know
March is National CP Awareness Month, providing an opportunity to inform, aware, and support those with cerebral palsy.
NICU PTSD in the Time of Coronavirus
Photo credit: Jodi Ellen Photography When Ben was in the NICU, I would wake up in the morning and for a moment everything was fine. For a brief second as I woke, I would forget. Then suddenly, my world would come crashing down, and I would remember where I was, and...
Free Webinar: The Parenting Path to Oral Feeding in the NICU
Join us on Wednesday, March 25 at 12:30 p.m. CST for a free webinar all about feeding: The Parenting Path to Oral Feeding in the NICU, presented by Dr. Brown's Medical.
Sleep Training and Your Preemie
A common question parents ask when it comes to sleep and their preemie is "When can we sleep train?" While preemies and NICU babies sleep a lot more than term babies, that sleep is often inconsistent and sporadic, leaving parents and caregivers exhausted and...
Your Experience is Yours and Yours Alone
Photo courtesy Erica Brennes Comparison is the thief of joy. Someone is always going to have it worse than you, and someone is always going to have it better. I spent my first five days as a mom being wheeled up and down hospital hallways to visit my...
Fetal Development Interrupted: What It Means & How Nutrition Has an Impact
During your NICU journey, you may have heard the NICU doctor or nurse describe premature birth as "fetal development interrupted." This phrase accurately describes why premature babies face developmental challenges - because their development has been interrupted....
When Comparison Steals Your Joy
When my twin pregnancy ended at 28 weeks with an emergency c-section and my babies were rushed to the NICU, I couldn’t help but compare my expectations and my reality. All of the dreams and plans I had for the birth of my twins were crushed. What I had imagined would never be. And if I’m being honest, in those first few days of NICU life, I had a hard time finding any joy.
Plagiocephaly: The 411
For many preemies, plagiocephaly (and in some cases, brachycephaly) are yet another thing in which they struggle. Our son became a high risk after having three bowel surgeries, as a direct result of NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis). He spent much of his early...
When It Comes to a NICU Stay, We Can’t Downplay Our Experiences
Photo courtesy Krystle Gervais, Sarah Huddleston Photography I find myself downplaying my NICU experience when talking to other NICU parents, thinking what my family went through is nothing compared to what their family went through. It usually goes something like...
We Learned We’re Stronger Than We Knew
Photo courtesy Lucas-McBride family by Arielle Lucas My son, Qingston, wakes up every morning with a smile on his face. When I think about the road our family took to get to these daily smiles, I am overcome with emotion. Qingston came into the world at 27 weeks in...