Hand to Hold's official blog
Chris Cavazos (TX) is the father of three. His youngest son, Jaxon, was born at 23 weeks weighing 1lb. 4oz. and endured numerous procedures and various conditions: PDA ligation, NEC, ROP, GERD, a long time on the vent, chylothorax and seven surgeries. He spent 192 days in the NICU. As a father, Chris felt helpless. Throughout the NICU stay, he learned how to cope with the situation and make his son’s and family’s environment as positive as possible. Chris wants to share his experiences with other fathers so they know it is okay to have emotions and to let them know they are not alone. You can contact Chris on Facebook.
When you have a traumatic event in your life, you will feel a variety of feelings. It is no different when you have a baby in the NICU. For my wife and I, we felt the entire gamut of feelings. There was fear, anger, sadness, uncertainty, with a little bit of surprise and joy sprinkled [...]
Having a baby in the NICU will probably be the most emotional period of a parent’s life. During this time mothers and fathers feel sadness, guilt, anxiety, anger, etc. I know when my son was in the NICU I felt all of those emotions and more. However, being a father and a man I felt [...]
If you have a baby in the NICU one of the daily rituals that have been introduced into your life is your daily trip (or trips) to the NICU to visit your little one. For me, it was very difficult to leave my little boy in the NICU, but it was also just as hard [...]
While our son was in the NICU, we had the opportunity to meet two wonderful people who helped our son thrive while he was there. I’m talking about his primary nurses. These people are a God send and I believe they are essential for your baby while they are in the NICU. Not to mention [...]
With the Fourth of July here, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about holidays with your NICU graduate. For the majority of families, holidays are a time to spend with each other, to have fun, eat good food, give thanks and celebrate. That is how it is with my family. However, when you [...]
Since my son’s birth, I have talked to several fathers of preemies, and most of the conversations start with, “As a man,” or “As a father.” I believe fathers need to hear the experiences of another dad who has been through the same situation as they are. One of the first questions I was asked by another NICU father was, [...]
Hand to Hold is a nonprofit 501(c)3 parent support organization and information and resources provided here do not intend to take the place of the relationship between a patient and personal physician.