NICU time with toddlers at home?

Question

Hi! I’m 30 weeks pregnant and at risk for a preterm delivery. I’m having contractions, went to L&D the other night but no cervix change so I was sent home. I have a 2 year old and 1 year old and all I can think about right now is if this baby came too early and had to be in the NICU, how do we handle this with babies at home? 💔
Does anyone have experience with this?

Answer

I have three kiddos(4,3,1yrs old now) & my third at 2months(my other kids were 3 &2 at the time) had to get airlifted to a hospital 2 1/2hrs from my house where I stayed with him for over 5months. My other kids came to see me on the weekends. I literally lived at the hospital for months. I went home a few times but I mostly tried to stay there. I missed my kids terribly & it was hard to be apart from my husband too for that long. I feel like I missed a big chuck of time. I will say we FaceTimed a lot. My kids made me art and I hung it up in our room. It made me feel like I was still home. I won’t lie. It’s hard. But my kids don’t remember it much & my sons hasn’t been to the hospital since June now so we are starting to make up for lost time & make memories as a family which has been really nice. Hopefully you won’t have to stay at the NICU long if you do have to. 🌺

Answer

It’s hard. 
Take turns with your SO. 
Children under 13 aren’t allowed in the nicu right now during RSV season. Thankful for this rule but it does make it tough. 
Call every day to check in. 
Ask for videos from the nurses.
Remember that babe is being cared for by an amazing team. 
Remember that babe is sleeping for 18 or so hours of the day. 
Don’t let that mom guilt consume you (this is the hardest). 
My babe has been in the nicu for 5 weeks now with 5+ weeks to go. It’s really really hard with other babies. I have a 14m old and my husband is still working. Plus, babe is at a hospital 2 hours from home. We still have other doctor’s appointments for ourselves and our 1 year old in our hometown so it’s been a challenge finding time to spend with baby boy.

NICU time with toddlers at home?

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