No parent ever wants to deal with having a premature baby but sometimes it cannot be avoided. For many parents, the real struggle occurs when the baby has to stay in intensive care while mom and dad go home. As you can imagine, leaving your baby behind is heartbreaking, although good for the baby. The time a baby would need to stay in the hospital would depend on many factors to include term of birth, specific illness, response time to treatment, etc.
One of the most important things you need to do as the parents is prepare yourself if you have a preemie. Typically, the hospital staff will walk you through the various procedures and processes, informing you of what each tube does, why it is being used, what the monitors all means, and so on but the very sight of tubes going in and out of your tiny baby’s body can be enough to bring a person to their knees.
Even if the hospital provides you with great information, I wanted to give you some survival tips as well. Be prepared, realizing that often, things look much worse than they are. You also need to keep good communication open between you, the doctors, and the intensive care nursing staff. You should have access to your baby, be able to ask questions, and visit often.
You will likely see your baby’s dirty diapers weighed, which helps the staff determine the exact amount of waste versus intake of food. You will hear numerous terms and acronyms, which I recommend that you learn. Again, you should always feel free to ask questions in that the more you learn, the better prepared you will be to handle the situation at the hospital and at home. When visiting the baby, you will be asked to scrub up, which consists of a thorough hand washing and putting on sterile clothing items.
The thing you have to keep reminding yourself is that the hospital has your baby’s best interest in mind. Therefore, while some things may seem harsh or unnecessary, these professionals are working hard so you can take your preemie home. Be involved, not scared. There is definite power in education so learn about RDS or Respiratory distress Syndrome, oxygen stats, which is saturation level, and all you can.
When you first take your baby home, chances are you will feel slightly overwhelmed, nervous that something will go wrong. However, by staying involved while the baby is in intensive care and then regular care at the hospital, you will feel far more confident when you can finally be a normal family. Yes, having a preemie can be challenging and exhausting but today parents and babies have the best chance for life than ever before.