When you finally get to bring your preemie home, here are three people I strongly recommend you "make nice" with...
The Receptionist at Your Pediatrician's Office: Even though my micropreemie was my second child and that made me a tad less prone to panic compared to the first go-around, I still found myself calling. A lot. Every sniffle, every wheeze, every rash takes on new meaning when you have a MRSA positive infant with Chronic Lung Disease. Being kind to the receptionist and letting her be aware of your situation can help pave the way for appropriate and timely treatment or diagnosis.
Your O2 Guy: If you bring your baby home on oxygen, there will be a company contracted through your insurance responsible for delivering oxygen to your home (ours was Apria). Your delivery guy may vary occasionally, but you can expect to see one or two very familiar faces. Some of these individuals are fabulous resources, full of tips and tricks for everything from carting the tank around to attaching the canula to your child's face without irritation. And, on the off-chance that you ever need to call in the middle of the night to report faulty equipment, it helps if you're quickly remembered and easy to find. Ask me how I know that one...
An Older Micropreemie Parent: Well, not necessarily an older parent, but the parent of a former micropreemie who is older than your own child. While every child is different, it can really help to be able to "look ahead", to see a future beyond where you're at currently. If nothing else, it can help reassure you that you can and will survive the stage you're in. This was a great comfort to us in the NICU and we are still in touch with our "mentor parents". My daughter will be 3 on Christmas Eve, so feel free to use me if you haven't been fortunate enough to find a connection out there in the real world!
Totally agree. We have made nice with a few of the on call nurses (the ones you leave a msg for and they call you back in 24 hours). Some of them really understand our position and some don't. In addition to the oxygen delivery guys, make nice with the home delivery people... the ones that take the enteral feeding orders. We have asked for small syringes to dose out her meds that have to go into the g-tube. They say those aren't included and they aren't supposed to send any, but since I made nice, they send 5/month which gets us by.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, so glad to have you as my "preemie mom mentor!" I've reached out to a few new preemie moms and think I've helped them a little, which is nice. Even if not much older, just someone that's been in the NICU longer than you have. They can give you advice on comfort things (where to get the best coffee, which parking garage is safest, how to make sure your food tray is delivered on time, where all the pumping lounges are... I was this mom that had been there the longest for so many other moms... they would come in and look so lost. I was able to make them feel more at home in the NICU and in turn, I felt more at home too.
I would add Pharmacist, when my boy came home he had several doctors and way to many meds. My Pharmacist helped out a lot there.
ReplyDeleteRyann- you're so right about how important those "comfort things" can be!
ReplyDeleteBeth- excellent point about the pharmacist. My daughter came only on just an OTC vitamin drop, but I can see how invaluable a good pharmacist could be as a resource!
She's so cute!
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