My guest blog at NICU Central posted today; it's about becoming an informed consumer when seeking out clinical help during or after the NICU. So great to collaborate with such an awesome provider and NICU nurse. Check it out for tips in finding a therapeutic collaborator in making sense of the NICU:
The NICU experience; words to describe it. Terrifying, stressful, saddening, maddening, traumatic, disempowering, fearful, unpredictable, scary, mystifying, changing, bizarre lights, jarring sounds, life and death, tubes, new languages, new people, infection, struggle, adjustment, exhaustion, the unknown, the unexpected, lack of time, too much time, stress, fear, fear, fear. Simply using word association to describe the experience brings back the sensation of being in a new place, not knowing the outcome of any minute, of constantly being reminded that nothing is promised and that there's no way of knowing what tomorrow (or even the next hour) might bring. The words fall short of aptly describing the circumstance, but can give a slight sense of just how destabilizing a traumatic birth experience and the subsequent hospitalization of your baby can feel for a NICU parent. I know because I was one... (Read more at NICU Central)
