Well, here we are in 2020. It's been a few years now since my family's journey through the NICU and the two years that followed of RSV isolation, specialists and interventionists. If you had asked me if I'd ever have to do the isolation thing again, I'd have given my speech about how once through the NICU was enough for me. Yet, here we are. I hope families are coping as well as they can and enjoying the quiet moments together. There have been some beautiful moments for our family that I know wouldn't have been possible in a regular year. There have also been moments of great fear and loss. I lost my father in September. Not to COVID19, but the pandemic affected my family's ability to be there for my mother or visit my father during his 5 months in the hospital. My former preemie is navigating the virtual learning world very well. I know this won't be true for all families. He has hypotonia and sensory processing issues, so sitting still and quiet for hour...
September is NICU Awareness month. Most parents don't receive any warning that a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) stay is imminent. Preemies can be born from 22 weeks to 37 weeks gestation, and sometimes even full term babies may need the neonatal care that only a NICU can provide. Rest assured, mama or daddy. Your little one is in excellent hands. Having a loved one in ICU is always scary and causes worry. When it is your brand new baby, the fear is unimaginable. When my son arrived early at 30 weeks, I had not even had my baby shower yet. The few things I had picked up were not going to fit his under 3 pound body, and did babies this small even wear clothes yet? A wonderful friend gave me the gift of a fully-stocked diaper bag the day after my son's birth because we had just had a chat over dinner a few days before about how I had positively no clue what all you put in those giant diaper bags. Needless to say, much of those wonderful things were not quite right yet f...