NICU Awareness Month

September is NICU awareness month.

As a NICU father, the amount of emotion that rises up when thinking about our time in the hospital is met with frustration, anxiety, hope, joy, and so many other feelings that could fill a library of blank books.

Being a NICU parent has taught me that everyone’s story is important. Every single child deserves the chance to live regardless of the obstacles in their way. No matter the length of time a family spends in the NICU, their story matters, their journey is important, and the life on the other side of being discharged will be someone’s hope that they too can make it through. I will not put on rose tinted glasses and say that everyone who enters that unit walks out with smiles and a growing child.

The fact of the matter is that not everyone will experience that joy of wheeling their child out of that dreadfully long hallway. The same one where we as parents would have to go home, knowing that our child was being left behind hooked up to cables, feeding tubes, and being monitored constantly.

This is awareness for ALL NICU families and their babies.

This is awareness for ALL NICU nurses that are there for us when we don’t have the capacity to show up with a smile and would rather just be at home with our child. You matter too, and we as parents are so grateful for you.

To my fellow NICU families, we are here with you, we see you, we love you with a love only a handful truly can express. We are proud to be NICU parents.

Happy awareness month.