Any NICU parents?

My daughter was in NICU since day she was born in september and came home late November in 2002. She was not premie, she had phycal and mental problems so lot of meds and 24 hours care were needed. I think patient is the key when you bring your baby home and dont panic. My baby came home with heart monitor so I panic for while everytime it start beaping. Anyways, have the phone number to the pediatrician, hospital phone number, family and relatives phone number so you can call when you need to. My hubby told me if I start worry more often, baby will pick up so I try not to get worry, panic and upset. Once I start doing okay, whatever happen, you will have time to react.

I had a NICU baby, it wasn't because she was a preemie though it was because she was in distress and aspirated her meconium. She was the biggest baby in there. The best advice I can give is to be very patient with the baby, you are bringing the little one into a new environment that is different from what the baby is used to. My daughter was so scared and cried alot the first day or two, but she is 2 1/2 now and is doing great!

My youngest daughter was a NICU baby...the nurses helped us to learn how to care for her...it would easier to give a helpful answer if you had stated why she was in the NICU..I do remmeber that I could call the NICU nurses anytime I needed after bringing her home...they were so helpful even after her discharge.

My son was taken by ambulance to the NICU the same evening he was born. It was snowing really bad so they could not air lift him. He was born with pneumonia and a pneumothorax. He was born 3 weeks early and weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. The hospital where I had him was not prepared for him to be so big. I had an ultrasound 2 weeks prior and they estimated him to weigh 6 lbs. 6 oz. He was over heating the incubator. He spent 9 days in the NICU. He was on a feeding tube and had a chest tube. His lung collapsed the same night after they arrived at the NICU. I talked my doctor into releasing me the next morning so I could go to the NICU to see my baby. He is now going to be 1 year old on Friday and you can not tell there was ever a thing wrong other than his tiny scar from the chest tube. I think the NICU nurses are the greatest. I was scared when I got there and they took me under their wing and explained everything. One of them even took a picture of my son with his eyes open for the first time and gave it to me. I wish you luck and great happiness with your baby and I will keep you and your little one in my prayers.

i have had 2 nicu babies now. make sure u and everyone else washes hands before u touch baby and pefore preparing food, bath, etc. make sure that friends call before they come over so u can check if anyone is sick. if they are politely tell them its best not to come untill they are better. if u have other children in daycare, organise for someone else to either pick them up or mind bub so bub isnt going near the kindy, which breeds germs. make sure u wash bubs clothes seperate to your own, in suitable baby laundry detergent. no jolly jumpers or walkers, or bouncinets...it creates wrong muscle development. follow sids reccomendations strictly... and any concerns, u can always ring the nursery and ask for help. good luck

My daughter was a preemie and stayed in the NICU for 7wks. Fortunately, she came home wire/monitor/medication free. One piece of advice i have is to purchase a baby sling. It was a godsend in so many ways. It helped us with the bonding issues, as she snuggled and stayed with me as much as possible. It freed my hands up to care for my 3 other children, while still attending to her needs. It kept germy, nosey people from touching her if we were out in public!!! Sometimes people didn't even notice her since she was so small and just a little bundle close to me. I find people literally go ga-ga over really tiny babies, and nothing worse than having a complete stranger come and start touching your precious little babe. By slinging her, my daughter slept quite well and hardly fussed. I hope your baby is doing well, the NICU period is one of the hardest moments in a parent's life.

My daughter was born at 33 1/2 weeks and was in the NUCU for 2 1/2 weeks. She weighed 4 lbs. 8 oz. when she was born and came home at just over 4 lbs. She also had to be on a Apnea monitor for 9 months which for me was one of the hardest parts of bringing her home when I did. I was in constant fear that the alarm on it was going to go off and I would freak out. The other part that was hard for me was that all I wanted to do was take her out and show her off but I couldn't because her immune system wasn't as strong as a normal babies. We also had to limit the visitors that came to the house. I just made sure to send everyone LOTS of pictures and let them know that it was for her safety that they needed to wait to visit. Good luck and it won't be as hard as you think. And just like childbirth when it's all over you will forget about it all.

I had a NICU baby to. He was in the hospital for 11 days. He had major breathing problems @ birth, born with clubfeet wich wasn't why he was in the NICU, but the breathing and jondice (sp) were the reasons. As far as special precautions I don't recall any major ones. Just follow all instructions the dr and nurses give you. You should be good. Its a very nervous and stressfull time the 1st few days till you are used to them being home.

I have a NICU graduate! My son was born 10 weeks early. Amazingly he only had to stay 28 days. He was 3 pounds 9 ounces. He did eat with a g tube but the last week he was there we had to teach him to bottle feed. Once he caught on to that, they kept him in a few days longer to make sure his breathing was under control. We went through a few normal scares. The ones where they may stop breathing and need a little shake. We had to have head scans to make sure there was no bleeding int he brain, scans to make sure his digestive system was working properly. He is 6 now. Doing wonderful. He has a speech disorder and was behind on his motor skills and language comprehension but he has improved so much. If you notice your daughter has any "issues" you can keep in contact with the IEP. I never knew that I could have my son enrolled at the age of 2. When he was 4 we enrolled him in an IEP preschool which was such an awesome help getting him into the right programs at school and letting the teacher aware early that he may need more help. Good Luck, that first day home is terrible. I couldn't even make it the whole way home without making my husband stop 7 minutes into the trip to make sure Christian was still breathing right in his car seat. I barely slept just so I could make sure he was breathing. I was a bundle of nerves the first few weeks. I don't know if that is normal or not but I was all nerves for the longest time. Take Care!

My oldest was in the NICU for ten days after she was born. She was full term, but born with a genetic disorder that caused complications. One thing I remember clearly is that she was afraid of the dark. The NICU, as I'm sure you know, is never dark, and she wasn't used to it. The first night we were home, we turned off the light to go to bed, her in the cradle next to our bed, and she started screaming. We got a low watt, soothing blue-colored lightbulb so that we could still sleep but she wasn't afraid. Good luck to you, and I hope your little one is home soon!