Hand to Hold's official blog
One of the hardest moments I experienced after the birth of my son was telling my parents that he was in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). I will never forget the pain in their eyes. The birth of a premature or sick baby is not merely stressful or difficult, it is traumatic. Suddenly you [...]
After birthing four babies, I could pack the “hospital bag” in my sleep. The NICU survival bag, however, was much harder to pack for my fifth child. It’s like going on a trip and not knowing the schedule, the weather or when you’re returning. Impossible to predict, but painfully important to have what you need [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
If you are a NICU parent or have a NICU baby in your life, this giveway is for you. Fellow preemie mother Cassandra Melhuish has authored a beautiful, inspirational gift book to offer encouragement, love and hope to NICU families. She knows from firsthand experience how deeply traumatic any NICU stay can be. Her son Dylan, now [...]
Kelli Kelley describes upcoming initiatives to support older siblings who have a brother or sister in the NICU, including a Sibling Sundaes program, educational articles, downloadable activity pages, and an upcoming NICU Video Tour. [Read more]
A Pound of Hope is the story of 24-weeker twins, Aidan and Ethan, as told by Michele Munro Kemper (Nana) and Jennifer Kemper Sinconis (Mama). Michele and Jennifer tell the story as it was noted and journaled during the twins’ NICU stay and after. Michele began the journal with only paper towels and a pen [...]
In the book, Before the World Intruded, the reader is taken through a medical trauma author Michele Rosenthal survived when she was thirteen years old. She describes feeling like a zebra, an anomaly, an isolated mystery case that no one seemed to understand or be able to cure. She details the twenty-four years she then [...]
Three-year-old’s have a way of accepting life as it is, not as how it should be. They only know that things are the way they are. They don’t have the capacity to think, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this” or “I wish it were different.” They simply accept. My daughter was three years old [...]
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.