It's such a long journey having an scn/nicu baby, all three of mine were and I found it so hard leaving ds even though I had done it all before. Find someone at the hospital to talk too. We also hassled our peadiatrician every day about when we could take our kids home especially dd1 who was there the longest. He admitted later that he took that as a sign we were ready and capable to take her home so he allowed her home sooner. Have you started a journal or dairy so when you are feeling down you can look at the pictures and thoughts? I used to look at photos as much as I could when away from them, fingers crossed you get your dd home soon.
Just wanted to offer you a My sister's firstborn was in NICU on c-pap for nearly a week after his birth at 38 weeks, so I've a tiny idea of how difficult it must be for you. I truly hope you get your baby girl home very soon. xx
It's awful.. I hated parenting in NICU because of it.. However, remind yourself she IS your baby and do as much for her as you can when you are there.. Don't be afraid to challenge the nurses 'routines' , I made the nurses ask me permission to do anything, rather than the other way around.. some parents are scared so it's easy for the nurses to take over.. Don't miss out on doing things with bub just because it's not convenient for the nurses to wait til you're there (Eg; if bub gets bathed at 9am and you don't get there til 10, tell them they must wait for you.)The words "Can you show me how to do that" are very valuable.. Get them to show you how to do things if you aren't sure. However we were in intensive care for ages, in SCN it's not as relevant as they do allow you to do most things.. In any case I had a not on DS's cot stating that they were not able to do anything without my permission unless it was lifesaving.
What is your DD's health like? Why are you only able to hold her a couple of times a day?? You should be able to hold her the whole time. Are you doing all her feeds, nappy changes, baths??
I don't really know your situtation, maybe you can't be there all the time? If this is the case call on family, friends, the community (BB) and get them to help you so the bub in hospital is your only focus. Your other child will be ok, it's your baby that needs you now.
Last edited by blessedatlast; February 5th, 2013 at 09:25 PM.
I know exactly how you feel. It took weeks before I felt like DD was 'mine'. It was just like visiting someone in Hospital. Staring at them through a plastic box day after day week after week. No bonding. Just visiting.
Things changed at 4w when we moved to a smaller SCN and DD was in an open cot and we were able to hold her.
Hugs hun. Mine was in SCN just for the night and that was hard enough. Is there something you could do like create a scrapbook with photos and your written memories of this time? Would that help a bit
Hope you're bringing your little one home very soon.
I feel like I'm in limbo...
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My sister's firstborn was in NICU on c-pap for nearly a week after his birth at 38 weeks, so I've a tiny idea of how difficult it must be for you. I truly hope you get your baby girl home very soon. xx
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