https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 09 Apr 2026 09:56:55 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/support-for-a-nicu-stay#post-2927543 Mon, 10 Oct 2022 17:31:23 +0000 karenbme 2927543@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LadyDi: they’re lucky to have you! Fingers crossed everything goes as smoothly as possible for them and your niece. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/support-for-a-nicu-stay#post-2927541 Sat, 08 Oct 2022 16:54:18 +0000 togetherthroughlife 2927541@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LadyDi: Love this! They’re lucky to have you. Welcome baby niece! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/support-for-a-nicu-stay#post-2927539 Sat, 08 Oct 2022 13:56:27 +0000 LadyDi 2927539@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks all for the suggestions! My lovely new niece was born the other day. We had their house cleaned for them before they went to the hospital because my SIL said she was stressed about cleaning and I put together a little NICU care package using everyone's suggestions...mostly easy to carry snacks (my SIL is GF) so some GF granola bars and rice snacks, plaintain chips, trail mix, cookies, hand lotion, reusable snack bags for them to pack in and a starbucks gift card. I'll likely drop off some meals for them in a month or so. I know they have had neighbors making food for them so I think they are good at home for the time being. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/support-for-a-nicu-stay#post-2927477 Fri, 23 Sep 2022 10:28:20 +0000 superkate 2927477@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just have a 7.5 week NICU stay this summer so this is fresh in my mind. </p> <p>If they have other children offer babysitting so both parents can go to the NICU at the same time. My son was in summer school/camp for most of our stay so weekdays were easy but it was hard on the weekends. DH and I had to take shifts at the NICU so someone could be home with our son. Pet care is also great. </p> <p>Food train/Grubhub gift cards: We had food provided for us for the first few weeks and it was SO nice not to have to worry about making dinner. We received a combination of grubhub and dropped off meals, both were amazing.</p> <p>Cleaning: That's a great idea, I would have loved not to have to worry about keeping our house clean. </p> <p>Gas cards: Depending on how far away their NICU is gas money would be so helpful. We were lucky that ours was only 5 minutes away but I knew people who drive long distances every day. </p> <p>Things I wouldn't want:</p> <p>Baby clothing: No one ever knows how long their baby will be in the NICU, so buying clothes that may never be used is a waste. </p> <p>Also when talking to them, I preferred if people would check in by saying, "How are you doing?" instead of "How's baby?" And I appreciated frequent check-ins. The whole experience is very isolating so it's nice to know that people cared. </p> <p>And please never ask when the baby is coming home. No one has those answers, timelines change, discharges get pushed back. It's so much easier to take one day at a time and celebrate the small milestones and not skip ahead to all that baby still needs to accomplish. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/support-for-a-nicu-stay#post-2927476 Tue, 20 Sep 2022 20:13:05 +0000 togetherthroughlife 2927476@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It’s so thoughtful of you to want to help. I’m twice a NICU mom and while every hospital is different there will be some things that are universally helpful. Both above comments have some great ideas. Here are some more!</p> <p>Hospital meal vouchers/credits. For the cafeteria for them to be able to get what they need while staying.</p> <p>A care package for the new mom! Depending on how close you are to the mom some of these may be uncomfortable but these are all things I would have appreciated:<br /> Disposable nursing pads (traveling back and forth to the NICU all day means I was never home for long and of course with my milk and often pumping at my baby’s bedside, I need these often), Depends (the mesh/pad contraption is so difficult to try to change around the NICU - Depends made things so much easier), hand sanitizer, hand lotion (sooo much washing made my hands so dry), pretty floral pattern disposable masks, a big water bottle (with a straw! one-hand access), some snacks she likes that are portable, coffee gift cards (if there’s a certain coffee place on their route to the hospital and back or if the hospital has a chain within its corridor those were always easier), phone battery pack or long charger, a small journal and nice pens (they’re going to be taking lots of medical notes and also may want to process things emotionally through journaling)</p> <p>Some things they won’t really need - diapers and wipes (the NICU will provide all those needs for the baby for the entirety of the stay), pacis, bottles or any feeding things (again the nicu provides all that)</p> <p>It may be nice if you have access to their house to keep their fridge and freezer stocked for them. Have other family members coordinate who could bring frozen meals that they could enjoy when they are home. If it’s just the two of them eating, have people make smaller portions. When I had my first, I was overwhelmed by all the 9x13 casserole sized dishes people brought. They were delicious but it was just two adults eating between NICU commutes! :)</p> <p>Hope this helps! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/support-for-a-nicu-stay#post-2927475 Tue, 20 Sep 2022 18:15:15 +0000 karenbme 2927475@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When DD was in the NICU I never wanted to leave her bedside, so food they can bring with them or that you can bring to them (or even a snack basket for the NICU) is what I would have wanted. I can’t tell you how many nutrigrain bars I ate out of our NICU’s snack supply. We couldn’t get delivery to the NICU, so delivery gift cards wouldn’t have helped us. In the same vein anything you can do to take care of the dog and make sure (s)he gets human interaction or tend to their house will be so appreciated. Every one of my houseplants died or nearly died in 2 weeks of NICU time.</p> <p>If you want to get baby clothes, outfits that snap up the front leave room for all the wires to attach to the monitors baby will need. Normally baby clothes with lots of snaps are awful, but it’s the only way they can be dressed in the NICU. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/support-for-a-nicu-stay#post-2927474 Tue, 20 Sep 2022 16:03:46 +0000 agold 2927474@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You and your family are angels. Maybe you can also have their house cleaned so that it is very clean and smells fresh and sterile when they get home. Hard to have that feel with a dog in the house, but a clean home is always the best to come home to under any circumstance. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/support-for-a-nicu-stay#post-2927473 Tue, 20 Sep 2022 13:32:56 +0000 LadyDi 2927473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My SIL and BIL are facing a long NICU stay when their baby is born in October (due to surgery for a heart defect). Does anyone have suggestions for the best way to support them? It could possibly be months before the baby is able to go home and we're local so we're going to offer to do things like mow their lawn and hang out with their dog. They have had a rough summer for a variety of reasons so we've already provided some gift cards for local restaurants so they can get take out. Any other ideas? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901310 Fri, 01 Nov 2019 11:44:14 +0000 magnolia 2901310@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: congrats!!! I love her name. So happy you are home. I remember the feeling of wanting to check the monitors too! It will get easier day by day :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901264 Thu, 31 Oct 2019 19:51:41 +0000 jhd 2901264@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: so glad to hear you are home! Yay! It does take some getting used to being without the monitors! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901256 Thu, 31 Oct 2019 17:55:09 +0000 karenbme 2901256@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks ladies! We did get to go home yesterday 😃 The practice nursing, bottle, pump grind is still a grind but so much easier in our home than the hospital. DH and I both have found ourselves wishing we could check the monitors just to be sure she’s ok, though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901071 Wed, 30 Oct 2019 08:57:43 +0000 nwm 2901071@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: :heart: ! hope you get to go home today! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901058 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 20:41:37 +0000 LadyDi 2901058@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Congratulations! I love her name! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901057 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 20:26:56 +0000 Sams Mom 2901057@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: congratulations momma! I'm so glad everything is going well! Here's to going home soon! 😁 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901056 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 20:23:35 +0000 karenbme 2901056@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks, ladies! I’m hesitant to post this, because I worry I might jinx it, but it looks like we may be going home tomorrow. 😆 At rounds this morning the pediatrician said if everything stayed the same we would be discharged tomorrow. And we’re more than halfway to that at this point. The only realistic reason I can see that changing at this point is if she isn’t up weight relative to yesterday, but she’s been eating like a champ all day. So fingers crossed. After her next feed we’re also doing a “car seat challenge” which is a discharge requirement for the hospital, where we bring in our car seat and put her in on the monitors for 90 min. to make sure she can tolerate it. But I’m not worried about that since we’ve held her in a reclining position many times and never had a problem.</p> <p>@pachamama: Thanks, we picked the name because it means strong/brave like a bear, which we think is just so perfect. We’re calling her Berdie for short (pronounced like birdie) which I also think is the cutest nickname. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901053 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 20:07:33 +0000 skiierchck99 2901053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: Really happy to hear ❤️ I’m sure she will continue to get stronger! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901044 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 19:03:14 +0000 pachamama 2901044@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: Yayyyy!! So glad to hear this!! Im tellin ya, those preemie girls often do just fine!! Bernadette, what a sweet name! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2901002 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 11:30:35 +0000 LCTBQE 2901002@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow, congratulations!!! So glad she's doing well :heart: Hope your recovery is going great. Wonderful news :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900965 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 07:56:29 +0000 lindseykaye 2900965@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: Congratulations!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900963 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 07:43:38 +0000 Mama Bird 2900963@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Congratulations!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900945 Mon, 28 Oct 2019 22:46:45 +0000 jhd 2900945@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: congratulations on your baby girl! It sounds like she’s doing great! Fx you get to go home soon! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900938 Mon, 28 Oct 2019 21:12:26 +0000 crazydoglady 2900938@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: Congratulations, mama! I'm so happy she is healthy and that the doctors are pleased with her progress. I will be praying you are released as soon as possible! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900936 Mon, 28 Oct 2019 20:57:08 +0000 karenbme 2900936@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hello all, thank you for all the tips/info. Bernadette Cassandra arrived at 12:06am Friday at 35 weeks 0 days, but needed respiratory support at birth so she was taken to NICU immediately. She was only on CPAP for the first morning, but has stayed for monitoring because of an apnea alarm on Saturday morning. She’s big and vigorous, though, and the attending who’s been on since Saturday likes to refer to her as a preterm baby who acts like she’s early term. And said this morning on rounds that “her alarms just aren’t that alarming.” Today we moved to the transitional suite, which is still NICU, but designed for families that will be going home soon, so parents are encouraged to care independently with nurses nearby to help. We could still bounce back to regular NICU but we haven’t had any alarms today, so fingers crossed.</p> <p>The biggest thing that’s helping me is being at her bedside, so I’ve been here 18-20 hours a day. Seeing that she’s big and strong and healthy is so reassuring, especially with my history of loss. I haven’t used the Freemie cups yet because my milk just barely came in and when I was getting 5mL at a time it just didn’t make sense. The first night was really tough since she was on a strict every 3 hours feeding protocol and we’ve been putting her on the breast then feeding a bottle then pumping, which took two hours at a time. But thankfully now that she’s ad lib it’s less strict. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900477 Thu, 24 Oct 2019 11:34:51 +0000 bees_knees 2900477@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: Thinking of you! :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900453 Thu, 24 Oct 2019 09:40:53 +0000 Pumuckl 2900453@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: how are you holding up?</p> <p>My twins were late preterm at 36+2 and while we first thought we would be able to take them home, it turned out just as @MsMini: wrote that they had problems with temp control and jaundice. Luckily we never went home so there was no trouble with being admitted to the NICU. They were only in the hospital for two weeks and then went home. While the days felt stressful at the time, especially since we had 2 at home already, in retrospect it went by really quickly and the NICU nurses and docs were awesome and the time there really helped them grow and get strong. </p> <p>What helped me was a seat cushion as the chairs in our NICU were awful. I also liked having my own pump parts as the standard flanges the hospital provided were super uncomfortable for me. Other than that I liked that the nurses put the kids in fitting clothes and not the too big full-term baby clothes. So you can bring some of your own outfits for baby if you wish (although I believe every NICU has their own rules there). Also a phone and a charger were great to pass the time when there was nothing to do. I was also on bedrest in the hospital with preterm labor and I crocheted their baby blankets and little hats, that we used in their newborn photoshoot, then. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900436 Thu, 24 Oct 2019 08:00:02 +0000 BUNBUN 2900436@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MsMini: Thank you! That makes much more sense to me. I didn't realize they couldn't re-admit to NICU once baby has been home </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900431 Thu, 24 Oct 2019 03:23:07 +0000 MsMini 2900431@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: So, in our hospital we actually admit automatically for under 36 weeks (so 35 6/7 and below) until they are feeding, gaining and thermoregulating well with stable bilirubin levels. Basically there is a bunch of research that shows that late preterm babies with early discharge are at much higher risk of repeat hospital admissions and failure to thrive. It’s safer and less upheaval overall to keep the baby in NICU until they are meeting those milestones, rather than going home and ending up back. Especially since usually a baby can’t come back into NICU once they have been home due to infection control risk, so they end up on a Pediatric unit with more risk of catching a virus. Does that help? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900422 Wed, 23 Oct 2019 20:35:35 +0000 lilyofthewest 2900422@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our fertility trajectories were pretty similar if I recall correctly, I finally got my sticky pregnancy after 4 losses including an ectopic pregnancy and a time out after methotrexate. </p> <p>And then I had a marginal previa, a bleed, and ultimately a partial abruption and a 32+1 c-section. </p> <p>I kinda felt resigned that of course things were going wrong and would continue to go wrong because that is what happens to my pregnancies. :-/</p> <p>I think the NICU time was easier for me in some ways because there's absolutely no question of it being necessary at 32 weeks -- no one just goes home with a 32-weeker on their normal discharge date. </p> <p>I spent less time in the NICU than most folks on here seem to have, but, I'm not sure it was really less than typical since I almost never saw more than one or two other families present at any given time in a full 16 bed NICU "pod". I made sure I saw my baby every day -- most days for about 3 hours, but a few days for only a few minutes. I focused on my physical recovery and sleep so I would be able to be more present and capable when he didn't have an expert staff 24/7. </p> <p>Freemies are nice for being able to hold your baby, BUT, it can be tricky to get your nipple lined up exactly correctly and then that's OUCH if you don't realize you were misaligned until 10 minutes into a pumping session. </p> <p>Because I was pumping around the clock in the winter, I found this sweatshirt to be the best thing EVER. <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FSKQ62M/" rel="nofollow">https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FSKQ62M/</a> While I generally am fine with fridging pump parts for the day or using Medela wipes, I didn't feel comfortable with that while I had a NICU preemie -- so having multiple sets of pump parts was very useful. Particularly useful was having enough parts that I could immediately go to bed after my bedtime pump and still have clean parts for my overnight and too early in the morning pumps without having to wash first. I also pre-set up the pump parts and put everything immediately next to my bed. The less I had to move, the more compliant I was with pumping. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900403 Wed, 23 Oct 2019 18:19:23 +0000 Mrs. Tiger 2900403@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My D was born at 32 weeks after my water broke at 30w, had tons of complications and was in and out of the NICU for 4 of his first 5 months. I wrote a lot of blog posts several years ago which you might find either useful or terrifying 😊 At the end of the day I have a wonderful 6yo who continues to amaze us. Hang in there mama, one foot in front if the other, hoping all goes very smoothly for you and your LO! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/nicu-moms-give-me-your-best-tips-and-tricks-for-staying-sane/page/2#post-2900399 Wed, 23 Oct 2019 16:24:45 +0000 MrsSRS 2900399@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My take on the "fine" baby is that every NICU has a cutoff you have to reach before they will release baby no matter how healthy they are. For some it's weight, for others it's gestational age.</p> <p>And my 30 weeker is also experiencing no residual preemie symptoms six years later. He has eczema and a less than stellar immune system which might be from that, but there's some genetic precedence in my family so maybe not. </p>