Neonatal Nurses Are Very Special: My Experience #ad 

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have five year old twins who thankfully are very healthy and full of energy as are any other children their age, but they didn’t start life that easily because they spent 27 days in a neonatal unit.
Today is International Nurses Day #IDN2017. As such I want share my experiences of the wonderful job that NICU nurses do, and also I want to say #ALittleThankYou to them because they really are very special nurses who have to deal with not only the well being of the baby that has arrived early, but all of the emotions and worries that parents have as well.

Our Story

I clearly remember when I arrived at the hospital where my twins were born. My wife was instantly taken to a room and started to be prepped for her c-section because lots of things and monitoring had to be done for both her and our babies.

This leaves dad, me, a little bit out on a limb, but within 10 minutes of arriving at the hospital a NICU nurse came and introduced herself to me. She started chatting about where the girls were going to be once they were born.

As my wife had to have numerous things done, bloods etc, the NICU nurse asked me if I’d like to have a look at the neonatal unit.

This made me feel like I had a purpose, as so often dads can feel left out, but the fact that this NICU nurse was taking the time to show me the unit when I’m sure she could have been doing many other important jobs, to me showed her caring nature. It takes a special person to identify that mums and dads are also worried, anxious and if I’m honest very nervous too, as your head is just all over the place. Involving the parents can help to calm them and put them at ease.

Once the girls were born they were whisked off to the neonatal unit and of course the nurses were with them all the way, but just before they went one of the nurses turned to me and said as soon as you are ready, you can come through to the unit to see your daughters.

After I knew everything was fine with my wife and she was taken to the recovery room, I ran all the way to the neonatal unit. I was desperate to see my little girls. They were little just 2lb11ozs and 4lbs 3ozs.

As soon as I arrived in the unit there was a NICU nurse to meet me and take me to see our daughters. All the time she was talking and re-assuring me and preparing me for what in truth is a shocking site. Seeing our daughters in incubators with pipes and leads surrounding them, as well as beeping machines going off is something that will be imprinted in my mind forever. I burst into tears. It really was too much to bear. Looking at your child so defenceless and so incredibly tiny.

At my side though holding me together as I got over the initial shock was the NICU nurse, always talking and explaining everything that was going on and reassuring me that the girls were ok and safe in the incubators. The NICU nurse in those early hours was my crutch, my shoulder to lean on and always willing to take the time to talk and re-assure me that everything will be ok.

As the hours turned into days my admiration for the NICU nurse just grew. They do one of the toughest jobs ever. Looking after babies that are born early when in literally minutes things can take a turn for the worst must be so hard. I know I couldn’t do it, but whatever is put in front of them they take it in their stride with a calmness that truly has to be admired.

Over the following 27 days our twin girls spent in hospital a NICU nurse was always on hand to help with whatever was required. They had the time to help to help my wife breastfeed and they always encouraged us to bond with the girls and have cuddles on regular intervals.

The nurses helped us to wash the girls and to change their tiny nappies. Of course, the nappies were tiny, but on girls so small they looked huge! Thankfully Pampers now have a new range of Preemie Protection Nappies, and NICU nurses worked with them to create their smallest ever nappies.

Unfortunately our twins were born at a hospital which was a 45 minute drive away from our home town, but they had a room where parents could stay overnight.

The NICU nurses arranged for my wife and I to stay there for the duration of the twins hospital stay. This was truly fantastic as it meant we could be on hand for our daughters night and day, and if in the middle of the night we wanted to just pop in and check on the girls it was never problem.

After 10 days the girls were moved to our local hospital. The NICU nurses, again always found the time to keep us up to date with what was happening.

Once we arrived at our local neo-natal unit, as you can imagine we have not travelled with our daughters and had not seen them for many hours, I know I keep saying it, but the neonatal unit is very special.

The NICU nurses gave us a complete run down of everything we needed to know. After all I don’t have any medical training and some of it was way over my head, and when that happens normally like a lot people it prays on my mind and worries me.

I always remember that one of our girls had to have a lots of tests because she had stop growing in the womb which is why they were born early via c-section. The worry and anxiety I felt was madness, but yes you guessed it there was always a NICU nurse on hand to take the time to explain it was normal because of her weight and just reassure me and put my mind at rest.

I never in either hospital felt I was been kept in the dark. Everything was always explained in full detail, what was happening with the girls and quite often twice because it was a lot to take in, but that was never a problem to them.

During the next few weeks we spent every waking hour at the neonatal unit and not once did I feel I was imposing, in fact quite the opposite. We were always welcomed and encouraged to help as much as possible and if there was any problem with either of the twins, we were told straight away and it was always explained in a precise way, but very sympathetic way,

NICU nurses have a very tough job, but they always make sure that the baby is ok and progressing well, but they also look after the parents as well. They truly are fantastic people and when people say it’s a vocation not a job they are so right.

So with that I want to join Pampers in saying #alittlethankyou to the NICU nurses who helped care for our babies.