Hand to Hold's official blog
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 [...]
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 [...]
I didn’t know it was possible for someone so small to throw up so much. Indeed, it is possible. The first year of my son’s life was rocky, to put it mildly. He contracted necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) on day eight of life and we began a pretty delicate balance between nursing, hospital stays and a [...]
Many preemies struggle with eating at some point in their life. Melissa McMurchy’s daughter was no exception. Kendall’s troubles began shortly after NICU discharge and continue to be a challenge today, at age 3. [Read more]
When you have a pregnancy that results in the premature birth of your child(ren), you learn pretty quickly to be grateful for every morsel of positive progress. If there’s time before birth, a neonatologist may share with you some worst case scenarios. And by the time you leave the NICU, you feel like you have [...]
I recently had to come to terms with the fact that my 24-week preemie will no longer be able to continue with the same therapy regimen he’s followed for the last three years, since coming home from a five-month NICU stint. We’ve relied heavily on therapy, from Early Childhood Intervention before Bryce turned three, as [...]
Shortly after our daughter was discharged from the NICU we received a call from our home health agency. We were assigned a nurse who came to our house regularly for weight checks and to administer her monthly dose of Synagis. Our nurse was amazing, providing us with the reassurance that all NICU parents need, while [...]
When my first child rolled over for the first time, her daddy and I cheered. We applauded her when she sat and later when she crawled. We laughed when she said her first word, “duck”, and laughed more when she began calling everything “duck”. Like all new parents, we thought everything she did was exceptional. [...]
Life does change after losing your child, forever. The world you knew crashes, crumbles and is never put back together. Life has changed, different and will never be the same. It is a new different, not the one you wanted but the one you have to live with the choice to live it. [Read more]
While lots of kids big and small are headed back to school soon, our son is still a year away from starting preschool. We have been so blessed with his progress. We were informed when our son came seven weeks early that we should be aware that there might be delays, whether they be developmental or speech related. I remember telling myself to keep an optimistic view on the matter, while the reality was quite unsettling. How was I going to tell if there were delays? I’m no expert. This is our first child. What am I supposed to look for? [Read more]
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.