NICU moms

jennifire7 · February 2013

Just a quick question:

We were hoping our little guy would be going home this weekend, but he had a rough day yesterday and the feeding tube got put back in. So, with one at home and my MIL leaving today, how did you manage visiting the NICU? The nurses said we could bring the other baby and leave in the nurses area between the regular nursery and NICU but I'm not sure how I feel about bringing him into the hospital again (germs, premie, low immune system).

Thanks!

SBBBE · February 2013

We had one week when one baby was home and one baby was in the NICU. We weren't allowed to bring DD back. Even if we could have we wouldn't have due to germs like you mentioned. One of us was home with the baby while the other one was at the NICU.

It stunk and I felt so guilty most days but we were just trying to make the best out of a crappy situation.

Good luck! It will go by quickly and he will be home before you know it.

Brummy14 · February 2013

Like PP, DD1 was home for 5 days before DD2. Given DH was still working full time (and didn't take leave until DD2 came home), I never got back into the NICU those last few days. I wouldn't have dreamed of bringing DD1 back -- the NICU waiting area was a cesspool of coughing siblings. Ugh.

We made up for it with DH spending more nights at the NICU, and my parents also spent many hours during the day there -- so I never felt like DD2 was additionally neglected in any way (not that I ever felt she was in the NICU...just not snuggled as much as we could!)

jglandon@hotmail.com · February 2013

Luckily we only had that issue for a couple days when DD came home before DS. We ended up taking DD with us, but only went for a few hours in the afternoon/evening. I hated not being able to spend as much time there with him, but knew he was in good hands. I hope your little guy gets to come home soon.

bluebonnetmeg · February 2013

We were encouraged to bring DS1 back to visit his brother. All the the rooms in our NICU were private though, so we did not have any issues with other visitors or kids.

yinyang124 · February 2013

J came home one week before D. They still hadn't hit their due date yet, so it was really easy to cart him around since he slept all the time. I would spend about 4 hours there instead of my usual 8-9 hours. I fed J before leaving (same time D was being fed in the NICU), fed them together while I was there then would cuddle with D for an hour, while J slept in car seat, before heading home. I kept J's car seat covered with a blanket until we got into the NICU. It was hard, but it went by quickly. I called after every feeding to check on D.

ETA: I think you are saying that you are not allowed to bring your other baby into the nursery with his brother though? That sounds terribly inconvenient. I would ask why.

lovekatespade · February 2013

We have been trading off days to visit- my husband will go after work, or he will come home and I will go in for the evening. I went from spending 8-10 hours a day in the NICU with all the babies, to seeing little Levi for only an hour or so every other day, and it breaks my heart. But we don't have any other choice and luckily our primary nurses are all amazing and give him extra cuddles for us.

JustcallmeGG2 · February 2013

SBBBE:
We had one week when one baby was home and one baby was in the NICU. We weren't allowed to bring DD back. Even if we could have we wouldn't have due to germs like you mentioned. One of us was home with the baby while the other one was at the NICU.
It stunk and I felt so guilty most days but we were just trying to make the best out of a crappy situation.
Good luck! It will go by quickly and he will be home before you know it.

our situation was exactly the same. we were told not to bring the other baby back. Baby B was in the hospital for an additional week. it was really hard, and i wanted DH there with me so bad.

meldoo2002 · February 2013

I was allowed to bring Nathan back with me and I did. Every day. But they left Nathan's crib set up in Joey's area so we just spent most days with Joey until he was released. It was nice to be able to be with both of them. I'm not sure what I would have done if I couldn't have brought Nathan back with me.

Jeep Doll · February 2013

We had 3 days between the first one coming home and the second being released but we didn't know it would be only 3 days at the time. This was not during flu/RSV season, so I was allowed to bring the other baby in and have her in her car seat during care times (when I couldn't hold her b/c I was holding the NICU one). If it was during flu season, I wouldn't have been allowed to bring my baby in. We had a private room, so that might have been a reason, too. My visits were a lot less frequent while I had a baby at home, though Sad

jennifire7 · February 2013

yinyang124:
J came home one week before D. They still hadn't hit their due date yet, so it was really easy to cart him around since he slept all the time. I would spend about 4 hours there instead of my usual 8-9 hours. I fed J before leaving (same time D was being fed in the NICU), fed them together while I was there then would cuddle with D for an hour, while J slept in car seat, before heading home. I kept J's car seat covered with a blanket until we got into the NICU. It was hard, but it went by quickly. I called after every feeding to check on D.
ETA: I think you are saying that you are not allowed to bring your other baby into the nursery with his brother though? That sounds terribly inconvenient. I would ask why.

I'm not sure why they won't let us. We asked before we left and they said no. On the day we were discharged, they had Tristan in his car seat in the nurses area and we were able to say bye to Austin. I guess it's for the best, it's just hard to get over there daily.

Hopefully he is home soon.

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