Big Janie. The ladies have fairly much covered everything.

If your baby will be fed EBM, you may want to check with the NICU what they offer in the way of breast pump hire. An hour before I was discharged from hospital, I was told that I had to arrange my own hire - hospital didn't have hire facility and you could only loan one from the NICU if you were not a local. Yes I did have access to the pumps in the expressing room but as I had other children at home to also take care of it was impossible for me to do all my expressing in the unit.

A diary will also become your best friend. It will help you to evaluate the events of each day. It is amazing how much you can forget as each day blends into another.

One thing that I would like to share is some advice that I received from a mother with twins in the NICU. She told me "you are your baby's advocate and nothing is stronger than a mother intuition". If you feel that something is not right don't be afraid to voice your opinion not once or twice but as many times as you feel necessary. To this day, I strongly believe that this little piece of advice saved my child's life.

Sending healthy and strong lung developing vibes your precious bubs way.

Take care!