Need a boost to get over this last hump

Chitown chic

Hi ladies! I'm not quite sure why I'm so down today...DD is doing well - her feeding tube is out and talk of discharge "soon" continues. I think I am just burnt out and feeling sad. We are on Day 88 of our NICU stay...3 days away from my due date, 6 days away from my 31st birthday, and I'm just tired. Perhaps I'm just in need of hearing from a few of you who have been in past your due date and know how endless this last week or so before discharge feels like! No one quite relates to this experience like you ladies do. Thanks, and Happy Weekend!

njdcgirl

((HUGS)) The end is so, so hard.  Especially when you know it is close, but don't know exactly when.  It's ok to feel tired, and a little sad - it's such an emotional journey that you probably have a lot of adrenalin you are coming down from too.

My son had a setback 2 days before his projected discharge and bought himself another 17 days - He went home at 44 weeks GA.  Once we knew he was recovering ok from the setback, those last weeks were just sooooo slow.  I feel for you - but hang in there, because it sounds like she is very close!!

mrsV719

We only went 1 day over my due date... but the end was SOOOOO hard. Your feelings are totally normal and valid. Once you get to the end you feel like you no longer have a "sick" baby but one that is ready to go home, but yet you are still in the hospital. We spent 82 days in the NICU, discharged for 11, then readmitted for another 6. I am not sure there was a worse feeling than having to go back... but in the end it was for the better. I hope that your LO gets discharged soon... try to do something for yourself in the last few days. One day on the weekend DH and I went to the NICU in the am and then went and spent the day together during the afternoon-- had lunch, went shopping etc-- then went back in at night. It was nice to be able to get away from the NICU and just relax a bit at the end. It is so stressful and tiring... ugh... I am exhausted just thinking about it! Ts & Ps coming your way! ((hugs))

MrsLee22

The end is UNDOUBTEDLY the hardest part. I cried more in the last two weeks than I did the entire 109 days we spent there. But it WILL end and she WILL come home!I agree with PP, take some time away and do something nice for yourself. It helped me a lot in the end.

Keep your chin up, you're SO CLOSE!

bhilyer

MrsLee22:

The end is UNDOUBTEDLY the hardest part. I cried more in the last two weeks than I did the entire 109 days we spent there. But it WILL end and she WILL come home!I agree with PP, take some time away and do something nice for yourself. It helped me a lot in the end.

Keep your chin up, you're SO CLOSE!

Yep! I've cried more this week than the last 2 months. Hang in there! Keep your eyes on the prize.

JakesBride07

"The end" is almost as hard as "the beginning"...there were days when I just felt like it would NEVER happen!

I don't even remember how I got through it honestly...other then I kept going and made sure that I had EVERYTHING done so that when we got the "GO" we could just take our babies and go home, no waiting for CPR or anything...

Perhaps ask if it's close enough that you can start working on whatever the discharge criteria is.

ETA: We stayed 3 days post EDD with B and another 2 months past EDD with A.

urbanflowerpot

bhilyer:

MrsLee22:

The end is UNDOUBTEDLY the hardest part. I cried more in the last two weeks than I did the entire 109 days we spent there. But it WILL end and she WILL come home!I agree with PP, take some time away and do something nice for yourself. It helped me a lot in the end.

Keep your chin up, you're SO CLOSE!

Yep! I've cried more this week than the last 2 months. Hang in there! Keep your eyes on the prize.

YES. The end is the hardest - or just as hard as the beginning as Jake's says right above me. My son came home five days before my 35th birthday - but I had to return him just two weeks after his homecoming & so we were in NICU again for our DD. The longest walk ever, is the walk back into that place Today is his two month adjusted birthday anniv. We all think in numbers now, don't we?

Hang in there. It has come up on the board several times that in retrospect moms wished they had used some of those last days to calm down - do something for themselves. I agree. My husband took me out for Mother's Day after a short, quality visit with DS. It's a fond memory.

katie4253

The end sucks.  Plain and simple.  The only thing that made it suck less was to keep as busy as possible.

I really hope your LO is home soon (sounds like it is getting very close).  The mental energy of the last couple of weeks is exhausting.  Please take care of yourself and try to do something for yourself.