Love, Gemma

“Dear NICU Mama, From one sister to another, I hope you give yourself permission to rest.

When you are separated from your baby, it can be easy to forget what your body has just been through, the physical healing still to come.
There's a fierce inner-strength us NICU mamas must and do find, maybe it's the adrenaline or shock, that can leave us putting our own needs last. Pushing through the pain, the physical and the mental tiredness, the hunger, our bodies' cries for rest – because nothing will stop us from seeing our sweet babes.

But mama, I hope you give yourself permission to take it slow, take the time to eat a full meal, ask for help and accept it when it's offered, and take a break if you need it – whether that's an hour or for a day. If not for you, then for your baby(ies).”

Love,
Gemma

More of Gemma + Wyatt’s NICU Journey:
“Wyatt was born at 33 + 1 weeks in July 2022, 7 weeks early, just like his mother! I had threatened preterm labour at 30 weeks and then my waters broke at 33 weeks. When I got to the hospital, they didn't think I was in labour as I hadn't really been having any contractions, but when they went to test for amniotic fluid I was already 4cm dilated. Less than an hour after birth I was out of bed pacing the room, and was only wheeled to the NICU at my midwife's insistence.

Wyatt's 4 week NICU stay was relatively straightforward. He was quickly put in the feeder and grower category and all of the issues he had related to being born at 33 weeks (temperature regulation, learning to 'breathe, suck, swallow', apneoas and bradys, establishing breastfeeding). 

I really struggled to take things slow at first, doing too much, walking too far, refusing help, cleaning the house in the early hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep, visiting NICU multiple times per day on top of other errands and social gatherings. I had to stay busy or I'd break into tears but that just made me exhausted and I had a meltdown anyway.

Realizing that the nurses wouldn't judge me for only visiting once a day or not staying all day and finding other ways to quieten my mind like listening to stand up comedy helped me allow myself to rest and recharge. It was infinitely easier to rest once Wyatt came home, we were exclusively breastfeeding, and we could snuggle on the couch.

Wyatt is now a bright, happy, healthy 1-year-old. He's meeting all his milestones based on his adjusted age and has found his own curve on the growth charts. I still think about his time in the NICU a lot, but it feels like it was a life time ago and has become a lot less raw.”