Thursday, November 17, 2011

World Prematurity Day

Today is a day to reflect and honor all babies who have been born too early. While most stories are happy, due to the wonderful technology and science now available, others are not as fortunate.  So please take this time to say a small prayer or take a moment of silence for all of those babies who have fought hard from the day they were born. 
I don't talk about my "real life" job on here much but today I am feeling so much love from parents of babies I have cared for I just can't hold it in. Most of you probably know this, but for those of you who do not, I am a Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) nurse. I truly believe it is what I was made to do. I've tried other areas of nursing and enjoyed them as well but there is just something different when I am working in the NICU. I was trained by some of the smartest, most talented people I have ever met.  While being stressful and at times down rite scary my job brings me so much self satisfaction it is almost unreal.  Being able to aide in sending a baby home healthy to their parents is absolutely priceless.  Some babies may only be in the NICU for a couple of hours, maybe a few days while others are with us for months upon months.  These babies are so fragile yet so strong, it is a day to day battle for them to grow and get healthy.  While I have the cutest patients in the entire world, the parents of my tiny patients are who I truly admire. 
The NICU is never in a birth plan or where a mom or dad sees themselves on Christmas Eve. How weird is it to have a baby and go home empty handed. Or maybe they haven't even had a baby shower yet, how do you explain to your other children that the baby in mommy's tummy is sick?  These are all things that make me strive to be the BEST NICU nurse I can be, to make this terrible situation some what tolerable. So to those of you reading this who have had premature babies or are currently sitting in a waiting room waiting to visit your little one in an incubator I love my job because of you.  Thank you for letting me be such a big part of you and your babies life, it means the world to me to help you and your tiny bundle of joy.
Happy Prematurity Day!
Love, T

Visit March of Dimes for more info.

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