Love, Brittany

“Dear NICU Mama, From one sister to another, I hope you give yourself permission to feel it all. 

The emotions in your heart, within and beyond the walls of the NICU, are part of your journey. Your grief and gratitude are valid. Your disappointment and joy are real. Your anxiety and hope matter. 

Sweet NICU Mama, it is not weakness to feel. It takes great strength to experience the depth of these emotions. Your feelings may change each moment or last far beyond your NICU stay. No matter where you are in your NICU journey, I hope you give yourself permission to feel it all. Especially the love of this sisterhood.”

Love,
Brittany

More of Nicole + Goldie’s NICU Journey:

“My son Rory was born at 41 weeks at a birthing center and the NICU was nowhere on my radar. It was quickly apparent that Rory was struggling to breathe and needed oxygen support.  At less than an hour old, he took an ambulance ride to the NICU, where they confirmed that he had aspirated meconium. I joined him a few hours later, feeling the weight of it all sink in.  He spent 30 days in the NICU, followed by an additional hospitalization and some therapy.

No words can adequately describe how it feels to see your sweet baby so sick and helpless.  While I was able to push through in survival mode throughout our stay, the feelings crashed down upon me once we got home, and I lived with postpartum depression for the better part of a year.  It was in finding Dear NICU Mama, that I began to realize I wasn’t alone in my feelings of isolation and that there was love and camaraderie out there waiting to welcome me.

Rory is now 15 months and just started walking!  Every person he meets comments on his smile.  He is so full of joy and I am positive that it is a result of how his life began.”