Blog
Supplementation While Breastfeeding
This article is sponsored by Neotech. When it comes to your NICU baby’s feeding journey, there are many routes you can take. When you have a baby in the NICU, feeding can look very different. For parents who are experiencing breastfeeding difficulties in the NICU or...
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...
Allow the Past to Shape the Future
It’s a new year, a new decade. My guess is that if you’re reading this, the past decade wasn’t the easiest. Or, maybe the first days of 2020 have been filled with the unexpected. No matter where you are in your journey, the new year can be a fresh start, but it can also be overwhelming.
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...
5 Ways to Give Back and Get Active with Team Hand to Hold in 2020
Give back and get active in 2020 with Team Hand to Hold! Thanks to Austin Gives Miles, presented by the Moody Foundation, Hand to Hold is proud to be an official charity for the Austin Marathon, Half Marathon and KXAN Simple Health 5k on February 16, 2020. Here are...
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...
Happy Holidays from Hand to Hold
Sometimes I feel like life is in fast forward. I want it to slow down a bit so I can truly appreciate the moments which are woven together to create this crazy, blessed life.
6 Ways to Bring Holiday Spirit to the NICU
Photo courtesy Allison Epps Spending holidays in the NICU is not what anyone wants, but by changing our perspective a little, and by making the best of the situations we find ourselves in, we can still experience moments of great joy and find plenty of reasons to...