ONLY A NICU PARENT KNOWS......

ONLY A NICU PARENT KNOWS......

 

 -THE PAIN OF HEARING A WOMAN IN HER THIRD TRIMESTER COMPLAINING ABOUT HER PREGNANCY AND WONDERING WHAT THAT WOULD BE LIKE
-the fear of seeing their child for the first time.
-that Brady's are not referring to the Brady Bunch.
-what CPAP means.
-the pain of not holding your child for days
-the workings of an isolette.
-what each beep means.
-how important kangaroo care is (to baby and mom/dad).
-that a parent's job is to fix whatever hurts their child - and know the pain of realizing you can't.
-what a PICC Line is.
-just how important surfactant is, and what it is for that matter.
-understands the realism of adjusted ages.
-what it feels like to cry the first time you see your baby in a crib.
-the agony over sending birth announcements.
-how amazing tiny fingers feel clenched to your hand.
-finally understands the metric system.
-there are no choices in the NICU - you have to be strong.
-cracked and bleeding hands from washing them so much and coating them constantly with hand sanitizer.
-how hard it is to trust 100+ people you have never met before care for the child for whom you have waited a lifetime.
-what it's like to argue with each other over who changes the diaper - because you both want to - its a chance to touch your baby.
-every inch of their NICU, what walls they cried against, what nurseries they 'lived in', -what shifts each doctor, nurse, therapist, and staff member works.
-that you will be a germaphobe for at least the next 2 years, people will think you are weird, and you will know you are literally saving your child's life.
-50 nurses by name, and their kids' names.
-Can give better directions to the cafeteria, gift shop and parking lot than the employees.
-that every day in the NICU makes you one of the lucky ones.
-just how important each new day is and how much significance a new day holds.
-Sure, every day to a parent of a healthy, full term baby means a lot, but we go in not knowing... and that is scary