Love, Katelyn
“Dear NICU Mama, As you navigate life after NICU, always remember to give yourself grace.
When you finally reach discharge day, you may feel so many emotions - joy, excitement, and relief, but also fear, anxiety, and loneliness. This duality of emotions may continue for a while. Give yourself grace.
You have learned exactly how many mLs your baby needs to eat, how many grams they should gain each day, what their stats should be, and their strict schedule. Once you’re home, it may be difficult to let all of the numbers go. It may be hard to remember that they are human and each day looks different. Give yourself grace.
Whether your stay was days, hours, or months, you may have experienced trauma. The road to healing can be a rocky one. You may have triggers and moments that bring you right back to the scary parts. Go to therapy, find a community, and do what you need to take care of yourself too. Give yourself grace.
Some days will feel like heaven on earth. Others will be terrifying. You may also have moments where you miss the NICU and then feel guilty for even letting that thought enter your brain. Give yourself grace.
You may grieve the delivery you imagined, the first hours you didn’t get to spend together, and all of the firsts you missed out on. Grief isn't linear and you cannot put a timeline on healing. Give yourself grace.
More than anything, never forget that you showed up day after day for your baby in the midst of it all. You fought for them, loved them, and did everything you could to make them feel safe. You are, and always will be, the very best mama for your baby. Give yourself grace.”
Love,
Katelyn
More of Katelyn + Kinsley’s NICU Journey:
“Kinsley Josephine Hadder was born at 29 weeks. It was completely unexpected! I had a typical pregnancy and actually felt really great most of the time. Until I didn't. My water broke on Thanksgiving, but I didn't recognize what had happened because it was such a slow leak. I wound up going into L&D and, despite all the attempts to stop labor, she was born 6 hours later at 12:56am on November 27th. She weighed 2lbs 9oz and was 15 inches long. She dropped to 2lbs 4oz before she started gaining weight again. She had a grade 4 IVH, multiple blood transfusions, and some unexplained stomach bleeding early on. Overall, we had a fairly uncomplicated stay, but we were still there for 8 weeks before bringing her home. She will be 6 months old on May 27th and is doing amazing! She is very low on the growth chart for her actual age, hitting milestones, and is so healthy! It felt like we would never get to this place, but there are still a lot of difficult moments, which is why the June prompt [Life After NICU] really hit home for me.”
