Love, Lindsey

“Dear NICU Mama, You may not know it now, but one day, you will be a walking letter of hope for the NICU mom who is overwhelmed by the NICU grind.

The NICU grind may entail information from doctors and specialists. So much information about fortifying feeds, bilirubin lights, brain scans, and heart murmurs. The NICU grind may also include both physical and emotional pain. Physical pain during the birthing process can be traumatic. Your body may not feel like “yours” anymore. There can also be emotional pain when you experience the separation from your baby every night in the hospital as tears of guilt stream down your face. You may also encounter and hold grief during the NICU grind. This grief can be complex and hard to explain. Other people may not fully grasp or understand this grief. 

Finally, there may be potential fear of the unknown. You may ask yourself, “Will my baby get out of the NICU?” The NICU grind likely looks different for each person or family. That’s ok.

However, in the swarm of the NICU grind—there is community. There is hope. You are not alone. You are a warrior and modeling for your baby what it means to advocate and be brave in this world. The future may be unclear but you are resilient. There is no better mama on the planet for your baby than you. Your baby chose you to be their mama. How beautiful and powerful is that?!”

Love,
Lindsey

More of Lindsey + Clara’s NICU Story:

“After years of unexplained infertility and miscarriage of twins, our rainbow baby girl, Clara was born at 32 weeks and 4 days on February 20th, 2024 due to partial placental abruption and preeclampsia. Clara stayed a total of 43 days in the NICU. Clara struggled with feeding goals due to reflux, along with contracting a urinary tract infection (UTI), which can be detrimental to her health due to a rare condition called multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK). MCDK essentially means that Clara has only one functioning kidney. Clara made a full recovery, however, she started over with learning how to suck, swallow, and breathe. During the NICU stay, we also learned that Clara had a brain bleed. There is a bit of uncertainty of how this brain bleed may impact her future, but we are confident she will flourish. Clara was discharged from the NICU in April 2024. Clara is a fighter, whether it is through conception via IUI procedure, subchorionic hemorrhage at 9 weeks gestation, or learning how to live with a lifelong kidney condition. She is a constant reminder of hope, perseverance, and the importance of believing in yourself. We love our feisty fashionista who is now approaching five months old!”