I'm a NICU Momma. Once you are a NICU Mom, you will always be one. The effects tend to linger on long after your stay.
Because of the cholestasis that I had, which you can read about here, my son ended up having to stay a week in the NICU. You may have experienced a NICU stay as well, if not, please don't say 'oh, a week is nothing'. Whether a day, a week or a year, being a NICU mom can be scary and nerve wrecking. Every day you wonder how your baby is doing, or how much longer they have to stay. You have to hear the alarms of other babies, which scare you, and you are heartbroken for those mom's whose babies may be worse off than yours.
The day my son was born, the doctors told me that he had meconium in his lungs, and they planned to watch him. Everything else seemed pretty okay. Later that night, they took him to get his stats, and instead of bringing him back to me, a nurse came in and told me they were taking him to the NICU because of his breathing being off. When the nurse told me that, my heart dropped and I panicked. She told me not to worry, and they would let me know when I could go down, which was 3 hours later.
I got down there and he was hooked up to a feeding tube, and lots of wires. I was so scared for him, and I didn't want to leave him alone. But at the same time, being a newly exhausted mom it was kind of nice for the break. But I still preferred that he was with me in the room. They allowed me to use a breast pump so I could get my milk to come in and also get him to have the colostrum, but they also substituted some formula until it came in, which angered me. I didn't want him to be substituted or bottle fed in the beginning due to the issues of nipple confusion possibly happening.
Eventually, they let me try to nurse him at the breast, and he nursed like a champ, and also made me feel less full and so great for the bonding. We had some hurdles, like when the doctors tried to retract his foreskin (I chose not to circumcise), after I told them in writing and verbally NOT to. They did not listen to me, and they were trying to tell me he should be, because of the issues of not. We almost got into a lawsuit and lawyers involved, which I was so stressed over and had my blood pressure spiked for sure.
The wait to leave, and the stress of the bickering about the circumcision and worrying about them retracting him again even though I made it clear not to, had me so stressed that when they finally allowed me to room in, and have him by my side 24/7, I literally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that in 2 days we could leave there.
I was lucky, as when he was born, there were plenty of open rooms where they let me stay 2 extra days in my room, then they allowed us to transfer to a family room and 'room in' near the NICU, which is where they can still watch and monitor baby, but they don't have to be in the special NICU or hooked up to wires. It is the last step before being able to come home.
Personally, I think the pros of staying in the NICU a full week is that they made sure my son's breathing was regulated and I also had longer support with the lactation consultants. But of course, as with everything, there are also cons to the NICU. The fact that they have to stay in their bed, they have to be hooked to monitors, sometimes they have a feeding tube like my son did. There is the constant alarms for the other NICU babies. You have to make sure your hands are washed well every time you go in, which can lead to chapped and cracked hands. And you aren't guaranteed a room to stay and room in, which means sometimes the mothers have to leave the baby behind to go home. I'm so thankful I didn't have to. Plus, the stress of if you plan to keep your baby boy intact if you have a son, and the pressure they try to put you through to go through with it all because they want extra $$$.
Are you a NICU mom? What was your adventure in the NICU like? How long were you there? What complications did you have to deal with? Let me know in the comments below!