My middle daughter was a preemie. She was born at 24 weeks. She was born in Ukraine, where she had no mother or father to look after her. Those days in the NICU she fought alone, and and four years after her birth my husband and I flew to a foreign country to bring our daughter home. I have no experience with the NICU, but my daughter does, and while she was too young to consciously remember, the stories of parents from the NICU help me understand, in a minuscule way, what her life was like during those months she stayed at the hospital. The sounds, the smells, the stress, the tension, and hopefully, through nurses, she experienced some love, too. I pray she did.

Black and white picture of the hand of a tiny baby wrapped around the finger of a parent.

Join Erin and me on the Unexceptional Moms podcast as we talk with Kathy McClelland about surviving the NICU. Kathy has a phenomenal freebie for you this week: The NICU Packing List + Prioritizing

Listen to the show:

Don’t forget to find us on iTunes and stitcher and leave us a review!

What we covered on the show:

  • Being in the NICU and having a medically fragile child.
  • The incidence of post-traumatic-stress (PTSD) in parents of preemie babies and in preemie babies, too.
  • The challenges of being in the NICU.
  • Advice for parents who find themselves in the NICU.
  • What other people can do to help the parents and the child when in the NICU.
  • What helps “get through” the days.
  • The emotional side of the NICU, how do you cope with feelings?

Yes, send me the NICU Packing List + Prioritizing

Connect with Kathy McClelland.

Watch the show:

Don’t forget to find us on iTunes and stitcher and leave us a review!

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Special Needs Parents, Are You Surviving?

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