Is there such a thing as overzealous NICU parents? N & I are there as often as we can be & do everything the nurses let us-- change diapers, dress them, swaddle them, take temps, kangaroo care as often as possible, pump every 2 hrs, etc, etc. We basically never see other parents... where are they all? The nurses haven't complained about how often we hang out (although some of them seem confused about how content we are just to sit next to their isolettes & some of them seem genuinely happy to see us so often... depends on the nurse.) We basically jsut made the boys dictators of our schedule-- we sleep when they sleep (or blog when they sleep, in this case!) & hang out when they're up. We don't want to step on any toes, but they are OUR kids. & we're there so often, I wonder why we so rarely run into anyone else... especially bc most of the babies are on similar feeding schedules.
We get discharged tomorrow night... totally dreading it. (Although I miss my bed & critters, I'll miss my boys more.)
That is sad. I would be just as obsessed with being near them every moment of the day too. I wonder where the other parents are... I guess it could be things like job/travel/other children keeping them busier than you as first timers, but still... *shrug*
ReplyDeleteDoesn't make sense to me. But I'm not surprised you guys are there every second you're allowed to be :) I hope I can be half the mommy you are when my little boy gets here. Keep loving on those precious little boys. I'm sure it helps them a lot and I believe it will help them come home sooner. Make sure you rest when you can though! Don't forget to take care of yourselves. And keep the updates coming!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean Kate..I had the same questions when B was born..there were TINY babies in our room(5 babies to a NICU room where we were) and it seemed the pumping room was ALWAYS empty(except when i was there) and I never saw another parent till our last day there.we had nurses who loved to see us and ones who were annoyed by us..we didn't care..we were there ALL the time we could be..Our NICU had overnight rooms ,since we lived more than 50 miles from the hossy we used that ALOT..it was nothing more than a room with 2 twin beds but..well it was a place to sleep when we were there..IDK if it's because it was around Thanksgiving or if we just didn't see anyone but we always had a room open for us and we took it every chance we could...You are right those are YOUR boys and you should do as much as you can for them...bonding is good for them..and you!!Keep up the great work Momma and Daddy!!!And those boys will be home before you know it!!
ReplyDeleteThat surprises me. During the week the NICU was slow, but on weekends, it was a mad house (at least my NICU).
ReplyDeleteP and I went during the day when it was slower, so we hardly ever saw the other parents unless it was a weekend. They probably thought we never went up.
I think it also depends how sick your baby is. With C, it was so hard to bond with him until he came home. But it might have been our NICU, they were so strict on everything. If we stayed for longer than a few hours the nurses would get annoyed with us. We dealt with many nurses who acted like C was their baby, not OUR baby.
But totally different NICU. So I dunno.. I have heard stories of parents who just leave their baby there until it is time for them to go home, only to find that the NICU has called children services on them. We saw it once in our NICU.
Hi Kate, its Platphoto from webmd! Congrats on your boys! I think its great that you want to spend as much time as possible with the boys! I was the same way when my son was in the NICU. I wanted to be there as much as I could. You are doing the best thing for you and your boys!
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