support for families w/baby in NICU

I have a baby boy (Everett d.o.b. 10/30/06) in NICU step down, it's a step
down from NICU, he's stable enough to be in step down. I miss him so much!
I'm having a hard time dealing with him being there, I know it could be
worse and I'm counting my blessings, but it is hard. I have 2 lil' girls
ages 4 and 8yrs who don't understand y they cannot c their baby brother. I
take lots of pictures to try and make them feel batter is threre anything
else I can do to make them feel better about it? Any online sites would be
helpful too...
Thanks

"taylormadeinjaxfl" wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
I have a baby boy (Everett d.o.b. 10/30/06) in NICU step down, it's a step
down from NICU, he's stable enough to be in step down. I miss him so much!
I'm having a hard time dealing with him being there, I know it could be
worse and I'm counting my blessings, but it is hard. I have 2 lil' girls
ages 4 and 8yrs who don't understand y they cannot c their baby brother. I
take lots of pictures to try and make them feel batter is threre anything
else I can do to make them feel better about it? Any online sites would be
helpful too...
Thanks


I can empathize with what you're going through. My daughter spent about two
weeks in NICU back in December-January. The hospital should have some sort
of support group of other parents in the same situation. I found it helpful
to just talk to the other parents there when they were visiting their
babies. A lot of them had great advice (such as don't watch the monitors).
I know how hard it is... we were lucky to be in a hospital that let me stay
with her after I was discharged but I am sure not hospitals are alike. I
would just say it's ok to be a bit mad because its likely something that
wasn't in your 'birth plan' and leaving the baby in the hospital was the
hardest thing I did when I went out for a night at home. How much longer do
they expect him to be in the unit? Just ask lots of questions and don't be
afraid to challenge them on things. Someone here once said you are your
baby's only advocate and that is a statement to live by.

Keep us posted.