#30DaysofBrave Day 14- Kelly
When my husband & I took the tour of our birthing hospital the retired L&D nurse asked out loud "would anyone like to see the entrance to the NICU?" It was dead silence as each couple looked at one another, probably thinking to themselves nahh we're fine and everyone ended the tour. Boy! Did that hallway and glass automatic doors to the NICU entrance become a regular route for us in just a very few short amount of weeks following that tour...
As a Paramedic and an RN and being in the medical field a combined 30 years, my husband and I NEVER imagined we would become a patient and preemie parents. My easy going pregnancy, no morning sickness, barley showing, slow to little weight gain, only a small placenta previa scare quickly changed to nothing, failed first glucose tolerance test and breech 24 week checkup we were smooth sailing! Until one day I called off to take 3 days off before a long weekend of nursing. I felt off the whole day, short of breath, high anxiety like something wasn't right, chalking my excess swelling to "welcome to the 3rd trimester" where everyone complaints they just want the baby out ect... I began to get upper abdominal pain, exactly like a previous gastritis attack. I woke my husband up at 2am begging him to drive me to the hospital. I was admitted for the beginning stages of preeclampsia, but they could correct it with light bedrest and close monitoring. Once discharged I was back 10 hours later and our beautiful baby boy was born at 0711 at 31w3d 3lbs 13 oz and quickly taken to the NICU with my husband, such an emotional time for us it's almost a nightmare to us to recalling the events of Oct 2019.
Twenty eight days.. that was our length of stay, the amount of aloneness you feel as a parent in the NICU is unreal!!!! The only people you connect with are the other parents literally going through the same journey some better some worse, but total strangers sitting together in a family room trying to eat, connect, update, disconnect, sleep,Cry, speak openly, even have art therapy.. whatever it is.. we all did it together. Never once did we ever know anyone's name, maybe we did but it was so many emotions to remember, Maybe our babies names is all we shared? The parents mostly said we're "bed 1" they were "bed 10".
Coming up on our son's 2nd birthday, I find personally surrounding myself with NICU pages, hashtags, amazon smile donations, birthday fb donations, planning of Christmas donations and just sharing our story as comfort. I want to show awareness to preeclampsia, preemies, and the NICU, because of that one moment nobody spoke up in our tour, I want to be that mom or couple who continues to be open for future first time parents who will endure this journey.. from our family to yours, we are a special group and as alone as you may feel mom or dad someone is right there with you fighting this same journey with our little miracles leading their own ways!