The NICU is a scary place at first…or maybe it’s frightening all the time, dealing with all the uncertainties. 

One of the first things most medical professional told me in the beginning is that it will be “a rollercoaster”. At first it doesn’t really make sense. But this saying stuck with me all throughout the four month my daughter was there. Let me tell you that it does make a lot of sense. The first 72hours were crucial for us but it was also our “honeymoon phase”. 

Everything was going according to the plan. She was intubated shortly after birth to help her breathe since she could not do it on her own yet…

In my previous post, I had quickly touched on the NICU being overwhelming. That was exactly what I felt when we got there.  ALL the machines, ALL the tubes she was hooked up on were very scary. Especially since she was “beeping” ALL the time. At the slightest noise I was essentially up on my feet wondering what was happening. 

For parents or caregivers trying to navigate the NICU, don’t hesitate to ask questions, even the ones you think may not be the brightest. There is no such thing as this, you are not a specialist. The more you ask, the more knowledge you acquire. The nurses are a great resource. I can truly say that after that experience, I have another level of respect for nurses. We encountered more then 50 I would say who cared for my daughter and the vast majority of the encountered were positives. We met some great womens (there was only one male nurse in the unit at the time we were there).  

Some babies go through a  smooth ride; however, this was not our case. My princess went through a lot of ups and down. She had to fight two infections, one of them being more severe. This specific infection required her to be on antibiotic administered through a PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) for six weeks.  She went through withdrawal from painkillers she received to help her. This was probably one of the most difficult things to watch for me. Especially since she was still intubated at that time, meaning we could not hear her voice, I could just see the pain with no sound coming from her. 

As a parent I felt helpless, my daughter was so tiny, fighting so hard for her life every day in a box (really an incubator). What could I do? How could I help her? 

In the coming posts, I will elaborate more on what you can do to help your babies and ultimately yourself while they are in this place.  

I may be a little technical here, but I realize that not everyone knows what an NICU is. I can say that before 2019 I had no idea how it worked and what to expect, let alone how it looked like. I didn’t have anybody in my immediate circle that went through this so it was a learning curve for me as well. I don’t want to assume that anybody reading this knows what I’m talking about. 

Before talking more about the NICU, here are some quick facts from the World Health Organization on prematurity:

• Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm (before 37 completed weeks of gestation), and this number is rising.
• Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age, responsible for approximately 1 million deaths in 2015 (1).
• Three-quarters of these deaths could be prevented with current, cost-effective interventions.
• Across 184 countries, the rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born.

For people not familiar with the acronym, NICU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It’s a section in an hospital that provides care to sick or premature babies.

Prematurity also has subcategories based on the baby’s gestational age at birth. 

• extremely preterm (less than 28 weeks)
• very preterm (28 to 32 weeks)
• moderate to late preterm (32 to 37 weeks)

 In my case, my daughter required time in the NICU because she was born extremely preterm (also referred to as a micro-preemie) at 25 weeks.

I know depending on the hospital the room setup can vary significantly. My daughter had a single room; which allowed me to have some type of privacy considering the circumstances. The rooms in my specific NICU had the incubator, a bench (pretty comfortable, spent many days and night there), a mini fridge (not for food but for milk or medication) and some rooms had a pullout chair that could fully extend as a bed. From my talk with other parents, I also know that some hospitals have a big room instead shared by a couple of babies and a curtain used for privacy.

You should note that the setup I just described is typical to North American NICUs.  

What can you expect there?

Before I get to the equipment, know that you will SANITIZE and wash your hands ALL the time. When I say all the time it’s really all day long if you spend long hours there. Before you enter the room, when you enter the room, before you hold your baby, after holding your baby or anytime you touch something such as phone, keys. 

If you ever find yourself in the NICU, you will encounter various machines and it can be very intimidating and overwhelming.

Just to name a few, here are only some of the ones that were used for my daughter throughout her stay:

• apnea monitor
• Arterial line
• Bili light
• Blood pressure monitor
• cardiopulmonary monitor
• Central line
• CPAP
• Feeding tube
• Ventilator
• Nasal Canula
• NG tube
• Incubator

You can find a great explanation of them and more here.

It may seem like a lot but trust me you get familiar with them eventually start recognizing them and learn their function.

Pregnancy is not always a linear road; this is something I learned a bit over two years ago. 

April 10, 2019…This date will forever be engraved in my heart. It might sound cliché but this is the day my life changed. I was about 24 weeks pregnant, taking a nap after work in my bedroom. I woke up to some liquid on my bed. I checked and realized that I had not peed on myself. I took a breather and phone my sister to let her know that I needed a drive to the hospital. Thank God she lived close by and she was there within 20 minutes. 

Once we arrived at the hospital triage, they assessed me within the hour. The nurse that checked me initially told me that my water did not break and I should be on my way out soon but the doctor on call needed to assess me as well. Well that I was a relief, I just needed to wait for my discharge papers and would be on my way home.

Oh, I was wrong! Once the doctor assessed me, I got a totally different diagnosis. She told me that my water had indeed broken and I would not be able to go home. So technically she told me that I would be stuck there until I deliver since I had almost no water left and the risk of infection were too high for them to let me go home.

At that point I couldn’t process everything since it was going so fast. But in my head, I made a quick calculation and realise that I would be on hospital bed rest for a very long time. 

I settled in to my hospital room quiet nicely. I decided that I would keep working remotely, so I did for the next two days. 

If you were ever in a high-risk unit of hospital, you know that the nurses come in to monitor you quiet frequently, to listen to the baby’s heartbeat or to check your own vitals.

Fast forward to April 14, 2019. At my night monitoring, my nurse could tell that something wasn’t right, the baby’s heartbeat was going a lot faster than usual. She kept me on the monitor for seemed like hours and called a doctor just to get his input on my situation. Once the doctor examined me, he decided that it was best that I was transferred to the Labor and Delivery unit just to be on the safe side. 

On April 15, 2019, my daughter was born by emergency c-section at 25 weeks, weighing 610g.