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❤️ NICU AWARENESS MONTH ❤️ It’s the month to recognize and honor NICU families and the health professionals who care for them. Being on both sides (as a resident physician who rotated in the NICU and as a mother of a NICU baby) has been a humbling experience. I know first-hand what other NICU families may have gone through and the journey can be difficult. ➡️ I hated scrubbing in. It seemed so impersonal to wear scrubs to see my own son. ➡️ I hated seeing him with all the leads and wires. ➡️ I hated that I couldn’t pick him up without setting off an alarm. ➡️ I hated that when we did skin-to-skin, we got tangled in all the wires and he would start crying. ➡️ I hated hearing the sound of other babies crying in the mother-baby unit where I was staying because my own baby was five floors away from me. ➡️ I hated the lullaby music that the hospital would play when a baby was born. ➡️ I hated watching him cry on the NICU cam from my room. He would cry and I couldn’t be there to console him. ➡️ I hated having to pump in my room with only a blanket that smelled like him to help stimulate production. Newsflash: it didn’t help. So here’s my message to NICU families... Grief is something we all may have gone through while our children were in the NICU. And although grief is never gone, know that you will heal in your own time. I will never forget what happened to us 4.5 years ago with a traumatic birth and Ryaan’s NICU stay and medical journey; but healing happens. There will come a day when the sounds of the alarms won’t trigger you. Know that your child will still be bonded to you and will still thrive. Lots of love to all my fellow NICU families today and to anyone grieving today. Drop a heart to raise awareness ❤️
By wagnereileen
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Posted in Development Milestones. 📊 Track milestones, mental health, and family-centered pediatric care.
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