David found this on the net, and I had to laugh. I'm passing it on - dedicated to all the parents who've had NICU babies:
You're NICU Kid's 14, and You're Still Talking About His or Her "Adjusted Age"
You're Addicted to Acronyms
NICU, CPAP, BP, A&B, EBM... if you were a NICU parent, you probably know what all of those mean, and you aren't afraid to use them!
It never fails. They show that picture-perfect delivery, with the baby nestled afterwards in mom's arms, and you mourn for what you didn't have. Worse yet, they show a distressed delivery with a baby going to the NICU and you're bawling.
You Refer to NICU Procedures with the Skill of a NICU Nurse
You could talk turkey with any NICU nurse after spending some time there. Use all those fun acronyms mentioned above, throw on some scrubs, and you could almost blend right into any NICU.
You Get a Little Sad When You Pass a Hospital
If you've ever had to leave a baby behind in the NICU, it becomes almost impossible to pass one by without reliving that memory just a little.
You Can't Help But Tell Your NICU Story
Oh, there are so many natural ways to weave mention of the NICU experience into conversation. How could you NOT tell the story again... and again... and again...
You See a Picture of a Baby with the NICU Elephant Nose and go, "Awwww!!"
You Have a Special Box of NICU Souvenirs You Keep Meaning to Scrapbook
Who could throw away a NICU baby's first IV line? Or BP cuff (and I know you know what BP stands for!)? Better yet, if you had a hospital with a volunteer auxiliary, you may even have beautiful knitted caps or blankets. They are safe, too, in a box.
You Get Sentimental When You Hear Beeping Sounds
For normals, that's an annoying sound. For NICU parents, it's the sound of bittersweetness. Suddenly, you're driving down the road and a truck starts backing up. "Beep! Beep! Beep!" You find yourself sighing.
You Still Scrub Your Hands Like a Surgeon
No matter how many days, months or years go by, you just can't seem to shake the urge to scrub your hands and arms like a surgeon.
3 comments:
That is hilarious!
It is good to see the babies are growing now after 7 weeks. April will be here and you'll be packing up those babies and leaving the NICU noises behind you...
Love the smiles from Ella and Jack. They are fighters, one day they will be fighting each other!
Hi, I left a message through David's e-mail. One of you attempted a post at my blog, Apologetics from Scratch, challenging me to some sort of debate, without explaining what, exactly you had taken issue with. You mentioned something about man-made constrants, without explaining what you were referring to. You also misquoted (or misunderstood) my statement about secular society trying to put its views upon marriage, a Christ-established institution. Whatever it was you took issue with, please let me know the format in which you would like this debate to take place. In Christ.
That was such a great find. Thank you for posting it. We are "relatively new" NICU parents, our son has only been in for 26 days, but we can relate to this article already. Thank you for a touch of humour on a situation that makes you want to weep every hour of everyday. This just might help me sleep a little tonight. Thank you again!
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