Love, Liz
“Dear NICU Mama, You may not know it now, but one day you will be a walking letter of hope for the NICU mama who feels weary and exhausted. Because you know what that weariness feels like — the exhaustion of spending hours at the hospital every day. The emotional rollercoaster of the good days and the hard days.
The heartbreak of saying goodbye to your baby and waiting to see them until tomorrow. The busy-ness of endless doctor appointments and specialists. The worry of your baby getting sick for the first time home from the hospital. Your heart may feel weary, mama, but you are a pillar of perseverance and hope. Your weariness is, in fact, a sign of your resilience — the fact that despite being so worn down, you push on.
Some day, you will look back on your journey and be proud of how you made it through, and the weight of your weariness will slowly start to lift. You can do this, NICU mama. You have what it takes. And some day, you’ll turn to the next NICU mama and tell her the same.”
Love,
Liz
More of Liz + Adam’s NICU Journey:
“When I was 25+6 I went to the hospital to get checked because I was having some minor contractions. Thinking they could give me some medicine to stop the pain, the doctors told me that my baby would be born within 48 hours. My husband Mike had just deployed to Europe, so my mom was with me. A few hours after I had gotten to the hospital, our son Adam was born, at 2lbs 3oz, and Mike got to return home on emergency leave for a few short weeks. The early days were a scary blur, and I mostly remember us waiting days and days to hold Adam for the first time. Thankfully, Mike had the opportunity to hold him before he redeployed. Our NICU journey was long and exhausting, with daily FaceTimes so Mike could talk to our son. Although it was lonely being separated from my husband when our child was so medically fragile, I took comfort in my family, supportive friends, a community of parents at our NICU, and the hundreds of people praying for us and for our son. After 100 days, Adam came home from the NICU, and surprisingly, 6 weeks after that, my husband came home from deployment. Adam hasn’t ceased to amaze us with his determination, strength, and sweet personality. He is an inspiration to many and a joy to us parents.”"
