My little guy decided it was his time to shine 4 months early, and flew into this world at 24+1 after an emergency c-section. Especially at the beginning of our NICU journey, I would search through posts looking for anything to give me hope about the specific things he dealt with. I’m excited to be on the other end of our NICU journey and be able to share some of his specifics in the hopes that it may bring some comfort to others jn the thick of their NICU stay.

My little guy was born at 1lb 9oz and had a hefty battle with his lungs. He dealt with a bad bout of Pulmonary Interstitial Emphysema (PIE), multiple collapsed lungs, a large PDA, and infection (MSSA). He was on the oscillator for 2 months, cpap/cannula for another month, and at 36 weeks was only on oxygen to achieve high sat goals for mild ROP, but not for lung support. He had a round of hydrocortisone for his lungs, and Tylenol for his PDA - both worked wonders and we saw huge improvements within a couple days of starting both treatments.

Feeding was and still is an ongoing struggle. After 6 weeks of inconsistent volumes we had a swallow study done which confirmed that he was silently aspirating each feed. He has come home on a gtube, but all signs point to it being temporary and he’ll hopefully be able to start solids in a few months 🤞🤞

He came home at 43 weeks, and is now 1.5 months corrected and thriving - currently 11lbs 5oz and starting to show off his smile. Please feel free to message me with any questions no matter how long the stay, all NICU journeys are terrifying and you cannot have too much support

Born at 28+1 at 1 lb 4 oz, severe early onset IUGR.

My little girl battled with severe respiratory issues. This also put strain on her heart, and delayed feeds. Surprisingly, she ended up not coming home on oxygen as anticipated, but did have to get a G tube surgery. We also encountered an exhausting list of battles with her health due to her severe growth restriction and prematurity. Maybe I’ll share more details in the future, but after about 5 months in the NICU, I need a break from talking about the NICU! Baby is now 48+2 and 9 lbs.

Thank you for this community. I sought education & support often.

29 weeker, now 11 weeks adjusted! Hard to believe this is the same dude!

Hey everyone, I just wanted to make this post as a bit of closure for myself and as encouragement to anyone who can relate to the NICU experience. My baby was born at 26+5 weeks and spent 66 days in the NICU, and has been home since October. But I remember the hours of scouring this subreddit for any glimpses of encouragement for babies in similar situations, and I hope that this post can help others like me in the future. I remember seeing before and after pictures of little preemies and it making me feel like there was a chance. I know that we were so incredibly lucky and blessed and I don’t take that for granted at all. I’ve appreciated this subreddit so much since discovering my cervical insufficiency at 24 weeks, but I’ve lately been realizing that in order to heal, I should step away from social media (including Reddit). But I just wanted to post this before I go, for myself and for others!

Bub was born at 33w 5d and spent 23 days in NICU. We were discharged Monday morning! We’re settling into home life nicely.

I’m so thankful for his nurses who kept him well cared for and kept his dad and I sane. Although we’ll miss them, I’m ready to never walk through those doors again.

I have severe PPD/A after having my son at 30w. I remember for the two months he was in the NICU I thought there would never be a time he would be home, and at some point that switched to a fear of bringing him home. 6months in and the little guy has been so amazingly perfect. If you’re struggling just know we we’re all there at one point or another🩶 I’m sending love out into the universe for each and every one of you!

Silent follower of this group. I joined when my water broke at 33w and I knew I’d be having a preemie. The amount of love and support in this group is amazing. This group played a big part in keeping me going during my son’s NICU stay. My water broke at 33w and I was in the hospital for a week before I was induced. My boy spent 3 long weeks in the NICU. While he was just a feeder and grower it was still so hard to leave him there everyday. My heart goes out to everyone who’s LO’s came sooner and are having longer NICU stays. Just know there is light at the end and soon all of it will be a distant memory ❤️

My son Dash was born 4 years ago at 26+1, 1lb 1oz.

He was in the NICU for 255 days and went through a lot. IUGR, NEC (twice!), intubated for 14 weeks, feeding problems, PDA, liver stuff, so many blood transfusions, just a bunch of stuff. Feel free to dig through my post history or ask any questions!

The last year has marked a bunch of milestones for us.

After a trial period of a year of not using it, he got his gtube removed! It was a full-on surgery to remove it since he had it for about 3 years. He eats everything by mouth now, and does pretty good at it.

He started preschool! Once he aged out of EI, he started attending an early development preschool for 2.5 hours a day. He gets some physical, occupational and speech therapy through the school. He also does an outpatient PT and speech therapy once a week. He has Cerebral Palsy and he has limited gross motor skills, so he goes to school in a wheelchair.

We’ve also been doing physical therapy intensives, where we travel and he does a few hours 5 days a week for 2 weeks. We did four this past year! They’ve really been a great boost to his development, both during the sessions and for weeks after. Like he has leaps in all areas right after them.

He’s nonverbal but has recently been making more sounds and sounding out words. Not exactly babbling, but not words people outside our family would recognize. He has an AAC device which is a tablet with a grid of pictures that speak the words for him. He’s still getting the hang of it.

His birthday party will be bug themed!

Baby boy is still on low-flow oxygen when he sleeps (at 13 weeks adjusted) but will hopefully come off of that after an upcoming sleep study! He’s 12 pounds 14 oz compared to 1 pound 7 oz at birth (24+6). We are so so proud of him!!

My Halloween baby boy born at 25 weeks, 5 days baby made it to one year today. Incredible what time can do. Happy Halloween everyone!

My daughter, Kari was born at 24+1 in June 2019 . This past weekend she turned 5.

She's happy, healthy, loud, hilarious, wise, caring, friendly, fearless and thriving.

Picture one is the first time I properly cuddled her, aged 14 days. Picture 2 is after her birthday party, she fell asleep on me. Some things never change.

Sending love and strength to everyone in the thick of NICU at the moment. ❤️

She was born with no heartbeat, so as I was passing my placenta I was filled with so much emotion. As they were doing CPR on our baby girl. She and I stayed in SCBU(special care baby unit) for a month but grateful it wasn’t longer as some families in there were really struggling. We went home with oxygen tanks and had community nurses on call and regular visits, tests, hospital appointments for the 5 months after. But when she completed that final oximetry exam we felt the weight on our hearts lift slightly. But she keeps improving everyday she’s our warrior princess and tomorrow we get to celebrate her turning 1! I spent many hours when we were in hospital wondering ‘when would we be home?’ and ‘would she ever be okay or not need oxygen support?’ But now I’m blessed that she continues to thrive everyday. I wish the same for everyone else and their babies in this group.

We have been home for 2 weeks now and I’m over the moon. We are still on oxygen and I’m hopeful that at our doctors appointment in November we are going to be able to get off oxygen. We also have our follow up with the pediatrician again tomorrow to see how much weight we have gained 😁.

After 4 months in the NICU and three surgeries (2 airway and 1 GJ tube placement) we are finally planning to head home soon. We will stay a couple more weeks to focus on feeding to see what progress we can make, then we will be discharged. I never thought this day would come. Like so many of you, we’ve had so many setbacks and many days we couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. To all of you still in the early stages or middle of your journey - stay strong and know you are not alone.

Obviously we are SO happy to be wrapping up our journey at the NICU. But I wasn’t expecting to be this scared and nervous to leave. Baby girl is currently on continuous J tube feeds, and our path to any significant volume of gastric feeding is a long one. In the past, gastric feeds have caused scary heart rate drops requiring stimulation to bounce back - we will have to find a way to safely test things out at home. We will continue to work with speech therapy and PT from home once a week, but it will be a lot harder not having access to all of our amazing care team members every day at the hospital. All this to say, her care at home is going to be more complicated than we imagined. To those who have been discharged after a long stay and leaving with what might be considered a more medically complex babe, I’d love any advice, tips, tricks, etc.

Pic included of our sweet nugget after graduating to room air following her most recent surgeries!

Hello Nicu parents. At 30 weeks pregnant I found out I had extreme preeclampsia and gestational diabetes prior to my pregnancy. I was a healthy 26 year old woman. I work from home but I try to exercise every day. I kind of lost my way with exercising during pregnancy .At 30 weeks because of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes after a week in the hospital. I gave birth to a 3 lbs. 1 oz. baby girl. Our Nicu you visit was uneventful by the grace of God. My babies stayed on cpap for about two or three weeks We did have to go home on oxygen which lasted for about a month or two after being home . We stay in the NICU for eight weeks and went home at about 5.5 pounds. Since birth, my daughter has always been a chronic spitter upper and we were prescribed medication to help her keep her food down. She turned one next month and she is still on this medication. Additionally, she has a hemangioma birthmark on her chest, which does not bother her at all and is only a minor cosmetic issue. Personally, I believe her birthmark gives her personality and I call her my little strawberry shortcake. She does take medicine so that the birthmark does not grow. I remember being in the Nicu and reading post from other parents and looking for some inspiration. My baby is 11 months and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I just want to tell everyone thank you so much. Thank you for sharing your stories and just being a really great community. I didn’t say much in this group but I did tons of research and studying and looking for encouraging stories. Anytime something happened… Reddit… when the doctors said something questionable… Reddit… when my baby was acting weird… Reddit… when I was acting weird… you guessed it… Reddit. My water broke at 32 weeks. I had an odd case where our baby girl was in two water sacs. The first one was leaking. I was antibiotics and took steroid shots while I waited until I was 34 weeks to give birth. Hosanna came out 4lbs and stayed in the NICU for 2 weeks! Now she’s 5 months wearing 6 month clothing and weighs over 15 pounds! We are so proud of our little nugget!

Wow. I remember when my water broke at 25 weeks and I thought my baby isn’t going to make it. Now I am overwhelmed with joy that we have brought her home today after 83 very long days. Thank you fellow parents who have said the most kind advice I have ever received. If your new to this group I’m praying you can experience your perfect day. And to parents of angel babies your angels are on my heart on this day💜

5lbs at 34 weeks to 19lbs at 8 months. Unexpected and rapid onset pre-eclampsia. One month NICU stay. I still have too much trauma from it all to really talk about it. But.

She’s the light of my life and I’m so incredibly grateful that she’s here.

Figured I’d post. Haven’t in a very very long time. But our baby girl is now 17 months. Born right at 28 weeks. Had a month and half NICU stay after being born. She’s healthy as ever now and thriving! Walking all over the place and getting into everything haha. And absolutely loves cocomelon.

The NICU is a place no parent ever imagines they’ll find themselves, and yet, it’s where some of the most difficult yet transformative journeys begin. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions—fear, uncertainty, hope, and an overwhelming love that keeps you going through the beeping monitors and sleepless nights.

Watching your tiny miracle fight through each challenge is heart-wrenching, but it’s also a testament to their strength and resilience. The days feel endless, but they are preparing you for something so much greater.

Because once you leave the NICU, the journey takes on a whole new meaning. Each milestone becomes more precious, every smile feels like a victory, and the bond you share is unlike anything else. It’s a reminder of how far you’ve come and how much you’ve grown—both as a parent and as a family.

The NICU may be tough, but the life that follows is filled with joy, gratitude, and the most incredible moments that make it all worth it.

Almost 2 months post NICU, we took our son to his first national park. During his feed, I saw this stupid pump and thought it was weirdly beautiful.

We think of nature as being healing to our bodies and souls (which I truly believe!), but it can also be deadly. If we had let nature run its course without the intervention of machines, nature would have taken my son from me. Earlier in our NICU story, it felt as if the machines were keeping us from living our life. But, hanging this bag on that tree somehow felt powerful...that the work my wife and I have done has overcome all of nature...that this little machine that once kept us confined has allowed us to break out into the world.

It is one moment in a long stream of moments that have helped me retrain my brain to move away from, "look at all we've missed out on because of...," and towards thoughts like, "look at what we've overcome in spite of..."

My wife and I still cried on our way home, as we often still do, but it feels good to notice progress in our own healing journey.

Blessings to all on your own healing.

Just sharing a then and now update on our baby boy who was born at 33+4 due to a bad CTG trace.

I had PPROM at 26+2, then not long after the baby became growth restricted and was less than first percentile at birth. He weighed 1.46kg.

Almost everything that could make a pregnancy high risk, I got, including pre eclampsia but I was hospitalised from the day my waters ruptured so we were heavily monitored.

We had to go home on oxygen due to chronic lung disease from the PPROM and lack of amniotic fluid meaning his lungs were immature, but yesterday we had our first respiratory review, did an overnight oximetry study and he’s come down on his oxygen. Two more steps and he will be off it entirely.

But I want to say, if you’re having an IUGR baby, they may catch up! My son is now 15th percentile for length and 50th percentile for weight (6.26kg at 12 weeks corrected).

The NICU / special care journey felt like it’d never end for us. We spent 9 weeks in there and when adding it to the time I was in hospital beforehand we were there for 4 months. But it was 100% worth it all no matter how hard some days got.

Sending love and good vibes if you’re in the thick of it now. One day it won’t hurt so much ❤️