Love, Molly

“Dear NICU Mama, On your hardest days, I hope you know that it is okay to step away. The best thing for your baby is a strong mama, and sometimes this means taking time for yourself.

This may mean a walk, a breakdown, or a call to your best friend. Walking out of the hospital empty-handed—especially on your hardest days—may break you, but that time away can be used to help build yourself up to someone stronger.

You may feel you should be the one to help your child, you should be their caregiver, and you should be able to protect your baby. That is what moms are conditioned to believe.

Leaving your baby in the hands of others is hard, but it is a necessary burden that we all take on as NICU mamas. It’s difficult to hand over the reins and realize someone else may be able to handle a certain need for your child in a more beneficial way.

Giving up the control of something as simple as a diaper change or a feeding (when these are things you had always thought would be your responsibilities) is nearly impossible, but the NICU nurses are angels among us. They care so much about our kiddos and our families. Your baby loves you, knows you, and is bonded to you—even if you need a little extra help in the first days or months of your NICU journey.

You are the best mama for your baby—and to be the very best, you need to remember to take care of yourself on the tough days. Allow yourself to feel, allow yourself to break down, and allow yourself to grow right alongside your strong NICU baby!”

Love,
Molly

More of Molly + Madeline’s NICU Journey:

“Our daughter Madeline was born at 32 weeks with no warning, I went to the hospital the morning of September 3rd because of some discomfort, and Maddie was born naturally 10 hours later! I spent a week in the hospital, as I developed HELLP syndrome. While getting myself healthy was difficult, it was nice to be able to go down the hall to see our girl and her strength. This helped to give me more strength! Madeline spent 40 days in the NICU. Throughout her stay, her main focus was learning to eat without her NG tube. We had many ups and downs but were so excited to bring her home 40 days later. The day before Madeline was officially released, she pulled out her own NG tube. We never put it back in. She was letting us know, “I'VE GOT THIS!” Ever since her release, she has been thriving. We are so lucky!!”