Hand to Hold's official blog
May will always be a special month for me. For most, May brings with it the end of the school year, vacation planning, and other events that mark summer’s arrival. For me and my family, May holds a different meaning. It marks the month we brought our son home from The NICU. As of May [...]
One of the biggest lessons I have learned from having a preemie, our NICU stay, and even now at home is to have patience. Patience is something I have never really had but having preemies has definitely changed that. When I got pregnant with the girls I wasn’t really worried or had a care besides [...]
Like many parents of preemies, I have remained hyper-vigilant about the care and development of my surviving micropreemie triplets. Early on we are taught how important Early Intervention is to ensure our babies hit their milestones as infants and toddlers. My husband and I felt our girls started life with so much stacked against them [...]
Our son Jayden has accomplished so much in his first three years. How he has grown as an explorer, learner, and social butterfly has been quite exciting. Since his second birthday, Jayden has been receiving therapy through Early Intervention, which has certainly helped him along. Despite all of his accomplishments, he still has a way [...]
From the moment I first laid eyes on my tiny one pounder baby girl, I wrestled with many emotions that caused me to question whether or not I deserved to be a mom. Of course, I did everything ‘right’. I took prenatals, ate right, and followed the doctor’s instructions when she put me on hospital [...]
I pushed the elevator button for the 7th floor. The doors opened, we stepped off and started the familiar walk past the waiting area of balloons and flowers. We didn’t need to stop at the receptionist desk, they knew us. We stopped giving our parent code two months ago. We did not have to show our hospital bracelets. The [...]
When we brought our former 23-weeker home from the NICU, we knew we had a long road of therapy ahead of us. After all, he was a 23 weeker, with bilateral grade 4 bleeds and at a high risk for developing CP. We knew he would need therapy. Before we left the NICU, we had [...]
As our son Jayden closes in on three, I have learned so much as the parent of a former preemie. We have seen all sorts of ups and downs, laughter and tears, milestones and obstacles, and I wouldn’t trade any of it to do it over. When I reflect on where we started and where [...]
With my history of premature labor, scarred tissue, a classical c-section… the list could go on… we almost knew that our last child, Evie, would be another early arrival. And she was. She was born two days before New Year’s Eve last year. She came five weeks early, after trying everything under the sun (including [...]
We work so hard to keep our children healthy this time of year. I say work because it can feel like a job sometimes. We manage family and friends who want to visit, making sure they aren’t sick and haven’t been around anyone sick. Some of us go into “lock-down” through cold and flu season; [...]
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.