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...
Red Flags Aren’t Always Red
As difficult as it is to hear that your child has some sort of developmental delays, it’s also a relief to get some answers. I'm not crazy after all! But then again, shouldn't I have noticed these red flags sooner? The problem is, the red flags aren't always red....
Your First Experience with Pediatric Therapy: What Can I Expect?
Your baby is home from the hospital, everyday life is returning to a new "normal," and you're seeing positive changes in your child each day. However, you may still have concerns about their growth and development as a NICU baby. Every child's development is...
We Are Survivors: World Preeclampsia Day
May 22 is recognized as World Preeclampsia Day. Occurring in only 5-8% of pregnancies, preeclampsia isn’t a complication typically on the mind of a newly pregnant mom. Yet, for those it strikes it can be life changing and even deadly. I am a survivor. A survivor of...
Dealing with NICU Staff
Part of me envies the NICU parents who can proudly proclaim that their NICU nurses were fantastic miracle workers sent from above who kept their tiny child alive. A NICU nurse who they keep in touch with, share pictures with, a nurse that remembers their child. I...
The Benefits of Kangaroo Care
Kangaroo care is a form of developmental care that has benefits for all newborns, especially those who are in the neonatal intensive care unit. Also known as skin-to-skin contact or kangaroo mother care, kangaroo care involves direct contact when a newborn is...
Hope for NICU Moms on Mother’s Day
As Mother's Day quickly approaches, I can't help but reflect on what a beautiful gift motherhood is. To have the chance of bringing forth life is a miracle. The road to motherhood for me had its challenges, one of them being preterm labor at 21 weeks and delivering...
Could This Artificial Womb Revolutionize Micro Preemie Care?
An artificial womb that has been tested on fetal lambs has gotten quite a bit of attention in the past week. (The end of April 2017, that is.) Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have used the device on eight fetal lambs and found that they have grown relatively normally for a month in the artificial womb.
Articles also have gotten around on social media, with quite a few people posting their reactions. My news feed has people raising medical and ethical questions as well as saying this is creepy like “A Brave New World” or “The Matrix.” As the dad of a micro preemie who was born at 22 weeks and 6 days of gestation (and who’s trying to publish a book on the topic) I thought I’d weigh in with several observations.
Bonding with Your NICU Baby at Home
by Dr. Lisa Michelle Noll, Pediatric psychologist at Texas Children’s Hospital When we are pregnant, we dream of the first minutes and hours after birth, holding, kissing, and caring for our newborn baby. Attaching to and bonding with our newborn baby seems...
Meet the Professional: What Does a Neonatal Therapist Do?
UPDATED JUNE 2020 When a baby is born premature or with special health care needs, they require immediate, intensive care. With all the medical interventions and monitoring it's easy to start seeing your baby as a patient, instead of the little person that they...
This Road We Call Preemie Life
During the 29 weeks I was pregnant with my preemie, I tried to go for as many walks as I could. Those walks helped me feel so much better mentally, as well as physically. As I walked I would lovingly rub my growing belly, the weather growing colder as fall turned...