The Newborn Experience No One Prepares You For

You have some symptoms, then a feeling, a hunch. You buy the test and wait the long five minutes with anticipation making your stomach flutter. Positive. Pregnant. You cry, you shake, you buy the first tiny outfit and eventually tell your family and friends. A baby. You are so excited and you picture your perfect newborn every day.

But then…maybe your baby is coming and it just isn’t yet time. Maybe it’s the blood pressure, the sugars, the placenta. Maybe your baby stayed in until term, but their breathing is off, their sugar, their body. A nurse is called, a doctor comes, a baby is whisked away. NICU. 

NICU admissions are often unexpected and overwhelming. Your picture perfect newborn experience has been stolen from you and now there is confusion and pain. You have a quiet room and so many rules. You spent every day of nine months reading up on how to be the best mom for your little one, and now a girl younger than you with a stethoscope and a badge is telling you when you can and can’t touch your own baby.

The fact is, there is no easy way out of this. There is nothing anyone can say to make this not…totally suck. NICU admissions are also somewhat unpredictable. Yes, some families do know they will end up with a NICU stay somewhere along the pregnancy, but for the rest, families go into it completely blindsided and hoping for the best. 

But the opposite of hoping for the best is not always fearing the worst, sometimes it’s more like preparing for all scenarios. Ignorance isn't always bliss and sometimes just a little bit of understanding does help soften a blow. So don’t shy away from learning about all paths, even the really hard ones. 

If you would like to learn more about why some babies require NICU admissions, and what to expect and how to cope if it happens to your family, reach out to Beyond Birth Newborn Support. I am happy to help by sharing my knowledge so that you feel fully prepared for all scenarios. Knowledge truly is power and it’s always easier to not go into an experience blind.