NICU

Congratulations!  You (or your wife) just had a baby!  But there are complications…  baby came early, or baby isn't breathing well, or baby aspirated meconium, or baby isn't pooping, or baby is severely jaundiced.  Your baby is going to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).  Suddenly your baby is taken away from you, stuck with an iv, and placed in a plastic crib.  You follow in a daze a nurses wheel your precious newborn through locked doors and into a dark room where they place monitor probes to his chest, tummy, and hands.  A doctor introduces herself but you instantly forget her name.  The nurse placing probes also introduces herself then ushers you out to the receptionist who hands you a clipboard and asks you to fill out the paperwork on it.  Before showing you to a waiting room the same receptionist explains the rules 1) to get through the locked doors you pick up the phone on the outside and tell them you are there to visit your baby 2) you must clean under your fingernails and thoroughly wash your hands and arms up to your elbows, dry, and apply sanitizer before seeing baby 3) only two visitors are allowed to be at your baby's bedside at any time 4) if you are sick, stay away 5) no one under 14 is allowed past the locked doors.

You finally sit down, still in a daze and fill out the paperwork.  After all the insurance information and family history is complete you approach the locked doors, pick up the phone and ask to see your baby.  The doors open, you hand the paperwork to the receptionist, then set about the task of scrubbing in.  Finally, you are able to see your precious bundle of joy.  You enter the dim room and notice, for the first time, the monitors at every bed, the tubes, the pumps, and the pervasive quiet that is interrupted only by the beeping of monitors.  The nurse who introduced herself earlier smiles at you and meets you at your baby's bedside.  You tentatively reach out to touch your baby while the nurse starts telling you about the plan for your child.  They are giving him antibiotics to prevent infection and keeping track of everything he takes in and puts out.  Your baby has wires and tubes stuck to him that connect to the monitors and other gadgets that are helping him with whatever he may need.  This is when it really hits you, your baby, your perfect baby that you have been waiting for, is sick.  The nurse has long since stopped talking and is watching you come to this realization, something she has seen more than once.  She ushers you to a chair and (depending on your baby's condition) helps you hold your baby (or your baby's hand).

Welcome to the NICU.  We spent 2 weeks in this foreign place that few visit, and never by choice.  The rooms are kept dim and quiet to promote healing and the nurses are angels sent from heaven.  When a baby visits the NICU it is because they are too sick for a regular pediatrician to handle, they may need surgery or help breathing, they may have been born too early or have a spinal cord defect, whatever their problem, they are in good hands.  Nurses in the NICU are a special breed of human being, able to deal with the chaos of sick babies who can't help themselves in any way and can't push a button to let them know when they need something.  These amazing nurses see tragedy and happiness in their rawest forms as they work with babies who far too often leave this mortal existence far too soon and with those who overcome their struggles and leave happy and healthy.  They cry with parents as they watch their precious blessings endure more than many adults do and celebrate the little things (and big things) on the road to recovery.  NICU nurses deserve special respect and admiration.

But it's not just the nurses that deserve accolades.  The parents who stand by their babies day and night as they battle whatever it is that has put them there are special too.  Mothers, who are recovering from childbirth and often c-sections sit and watch and wait for the opportunity to hold their baby, often for the first time after days or weeks of treatment and who pump breast milk to nourish these little blessings, deserve extra love.  Fathers who spend their free time standing watch over their new bundle and go to work or to tend other children are also deserving of special praise.  These parents spend hours and hours worrying over their babies, learning medical jargon, researching treatment, and praying that their baby will be safe and come home healthy.







With all this in mind I want to extend a special thank you to our nurses.  We had fantastic nurses every day and night.  They were always there for us to answer any questions and to encourage us.  They were positive about everything that was happening, but still honest.  They encouraged us to make sure we were taking care of ourselves as well, so that we could continue to care for Baby J.  They alerted us to changes in his care and were always so patient with us.  Thank you to our wonderful nurses, for all you did for us.

I can't forget the friends we made while in the NICU, the other parents that were in the same (or at least similar) boat as we were.  They also had sick babies to care for, but they were also there for us.  We cheered together whenever one of our kiddos made good progress and we sorrowed when there was a setback.  We chatted to help pass the endless hours of quiet and admired each others' babies.  We have kept in touch with some of the other parents and are hoping they are life-long friends.  We still share in each others' joy and progress with our little ones, it is a friendship born of trial that only other NICU parents can truly understand.  Thank you to these other parents for making the NICU a slightly more friendly place.

Find more insight into the NICU here and here




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