How to get a sickness-prone preemie home on public transportation
Having a preemie at home during any season is hard — it can be a challenge to explain to friends and family why they very seriously have to wash their hands as soon as they enter, or why you really can’t come over for a few weeks. If your preemie was born with a chronic lung condition or weakened immune system, it’s difficult to not be scared of absolutely everything or everyone he or she might come into contact with. I know from first-hand experience: my son Jasper was born two months early in 2009, and spent a month in the NICU.
How can we honor friends and family who helped during our NICU experience?
After the birth of our twins at 27 weeks our friends, family and coworkers really banned together to help us get through what was the worst period of our lives. Our twins are now five-months-old, and we want to do something to celebrate the people who are still very actively involved in all of our lives. How do I ever thank them and make sure they know that they are our babies’ extended family?
The Human Incubator: how Kangaroo Care saves preemies
The practice of Kangaroo Care in NICUs is widespread, and the positive impact has been most keenly felt in hospitals in developing nations, especially those without machine incubators or other medical equipment.
Everybody deals with death differently: my advice for how to talk to those of us who’ve lost a child
At the dentist, getting my nails done, meeting new people, often times the fact that I have a son who has passed away (how’s that one sound?) ends up coming up in the conversation. I worry about it often because it’s not something most people are prepared to handle talking about. Should you be overly sympathetic? Ignore it?
Taking the NICU with a grain of salt
The NICU can be a scary place. It really isn’t ever on anyone’s birth plan, but can show up. What’s even scary is when you don’t know what’s going on. I remember when I was told that my son would be in the NICU for an extended period of time. I was beyond frightened. I felt helpless and like I did something wrong to make my baby sick. Looking back on it there’s quite a few things I wish I knew. Knowing them now, I hope to share them and make someone’s experience in the NICU a whole lot less scary.
A premature baby can change your entire birth plan
Our baby, Jasper, was born on 27 March 2009 in Portland, Oregon. My husband and I moved to Portland in December of 2008, and I hooked up with the nurse midwives at OHSU for our birth shortly thereafter. Before going into his birth story, let me preface this by saying that my husband, Sean, and […]