Love, Natasha

“Dear NICU Mama, I hope you give yourself permission to grieve. When you first found out you were pregnant, you never expected this. You may have lost the third trimester of your pregnancy. You may have lost the labor and delivery experience you had hoped for. You may have lost those first minutes of birth. You may have lost bringing your newborn home. 

I hope you give yourself permission to grieve on all the things you may not have gotten to experience. It is normal to feel sad. It is normal to feel hurt. Your NICU journey is unique, and no two are the same. I know we sometimes feel guilty for grieving, but you are strong, and courageous, and you are allowed to feel the grief that comes with your journey.”

Love,
Natasha

More of Natasha + MIcah’s NICU Journey:

“I gave birth to my son, Micah at 30 weeks and 3 days on August 30th, 2022 due to severe complications with preeclampsia. He was born at 4lbs and 7oz. He was such a big baby for 30 weekers, according to the doctors, but I can thank undiagnosed gestational diabetes for that. Micah was a feeder, and a grower, and although he didn’t have any major complications from being born so premature, we still spent a lengthy 63 days in the NICU. His main issues were feeding, and bradycardia events. Every time he would have a low heart rate, our going home clock would reset another 5 days. Something in him finally clicked, and we got to go home in October 21st, 2022! He is loved dearly by his older sister, and has recently turned a year old! Although he does have some feeding concerns and issues, he’s a happy little dude and loves to seek out new things.”