Buzz Summer Camp Directory
BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

The NICU

Annie
Click the Buzz Me button to receive email notifications when this writer publishes a new article or a new article in this column is published.

Rory Bellow, Collins Bellow

After Rory Bellow went into premature labor on a flight, baby Collins spent time in the NICU. Today, she is 18 months old and healthy.

Buzz Baby is a column about life with babies from the perspective of a first-time mother. If you have baby stories to share, leave a comment under this article or email [email protected].

Most parents-to-be envision their child’s birth. The baby arrives, and moments later, they are holding their newborn child, skin to skin, and those cherished pictures are snapped.

For some parents, that vision doesn’t always pan out if the baby needs to immediately be taken to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, otherwise known as the NICU. 

My twins went to the NICU at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. I got to hold them briefly, and, luckily, a nurse took a photo, but then away they went with the NICU team.

The worst part for me after that was waiting to see them. I was hit with a tidal wave of nausea from the medicine, so I had to wait many agonizing hours until the nurse felt it was a good idea for me to stand up.

The next worst part for me was being discharged from the hospital without my babies. The nursery was done. The diapers were ready. I was no longer pregnant. But where were my babies? Our house seemed extra quiet that night.

On top of everything else, my new mother hormones were spinning. I knew they were where they needed to be, but I was heartbroken inside.

I remember walking upstairs to see them for the first time. At our hospital, they divided the babies into rooms called pods. Our babies were doing well and were stable so we did not see any of the very sick babies. But I knew they were there. I could feel their presence and the parents’ heartbreak in the quiet hallways.

My heart was beating out of my chest as I checked in at the desk. Would I have to see the babies through plate glass? Could I hold them? I was clueless.

The room was the size of a typical school classroom with six babies, three on each side. It felt relaxing. Quiet. It was not what I was expecting. I had my own rocking chair. I could breastfeed, hold and rock them. After a week, they were moved to the “step down” floor, where we even had a private room with a couch.

After a few days, and seeing the babies thrive, my husband and I had an epiphany. Wait. This whole NICU thing isn’t so bad. We had a team of experienced doctors, nurses, volunteers and lactation consultants all there to help us.

As new parents and parents to twins, we needed all the help we could get. We changed our attitudes and began to view their stay in the NICU as something positive.

At night when we slept, we knew we were only eight miles away from them. For other moms, like Elizabeth Canfield and her husband Kyle, an electrical contractor, the thought of having a child stay in a Houston NICU would have been a welcomed opportunity.

Back in summer 2012, and 29 weeks pregnant with her first, Elizabeth, along with Kyle, packed up and flew to Telluride, Colo., for a family vacation.

Elizabeth returned 45 days later, mom to a baby boy named Luke.

“I woke up around 4 a.m. not feeling well. We went to the clinic in Telluride, and they decided I needed to go to the hospital in Montrose [Colorado],” said Elizabeth. She was in labor.

There was no time to think. Luke was coming, quickly. As they passed through the Dallas Divide mountain pass by ambulance, Luke was born. He weighed 2 pounds, 15 ounces, but was stable and strong. He spent 45 days in the closest NICU to them, which was St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.

“I would go to his room every morning for his first [feedings] and stay until 10 every night,” said Elizabeth. “I would sleep in a chair. It was such a learning curve, [being a] first-time mom and a mother of a preemie.” 

Emily Sweeney, Ryan Sweeney, Asher Sweeney, Jude Sweeney, Samuel Sweeney

Big brother Samuel Sweeney (pictured, with parents Emily and Ryan holding twins Asher and Jude) was 18 months old at the time of the twins’ premature birth.

Elizabeth says her family traveled back and forth to visit. In the end, she found the silver lining. “It was a blessing in disguise that we were so far from home,” said Elizabeth. “It allowed me to concentrate only on Luke. I didn’t have to worry about the house, the dog or anything else.”

Early arrival often means a NICU stay until the baby’s “due date.” When mother-of-two Rory Bellow and her husband Beau, who works in commercial real estate, were on a 65-minute flight home from the family ranch, she went into unexpected labor while 30 weeks pregnant with their first child.

By the time the plane landed, her contractions were closing in at 30 seconds apart. They rushed to Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Minutes after check-in, Collins Julaine Bellow was born, weighing a tiny 3 pounds, 14 ounces, and stretching 16.5 inches long.

“It felt like a movie,” said Rory. “Running through the halls on the gurney, lots of yelling, the nurses telling me to not push.”

Collins was stable but needed time to grow and spent the next six weeks in the NICU at Texas Children’s.

Rory said the initial shock was overwhelming. “The terror of knowing you are going to have a baby so early is blinding,” she said.

From the day Rory and Beau were discharged from the hospital, they spent as much time as they could with Collins. They eventually were moved into a private room (which can happen if the baby is more stable), making things more comfortable.

“[At first], we could hold her for a few minutes once a day, but it depended on her vital signs,” said Rory. “I would wait up there because I didn’t want to miss that.” Collins came home happy and healthy after about six weeks.

Asher Sweeney, Jude Sweeney

Jude and Asher spent nearly five months in a neonatal intensive care unit.

For other parents, like Emily Sweeney and her husband Ryan, managing partner with Streetwise Land Advisors, coping with a child’s stay in the NICU was even more complicated with a toddler at home. Their twin boys, Asher and Jude, were born one day shy of 25 weeks gestation in February 2013 at The Woman’s Hospital of Texas. 

With their 18-month-old toddler, Samuel, at home, each day they had to juggle. “He was still very little, very needy,” said Emily.

Children under 2 were not permitted in the NICU. Samuel was going to have to wait many months to meet his new brothers.

So the stunned parents faced their 5-month NICU stay head on. “I remember changing their tiny saltine packet-sized diapers at first and being amazed and terrified,” said Emily.

They also accepted help from family and friends. “I didn’t grocery shop for six-plus weeks because my friends took care of it for me,” said Emily.

Emily spent her days at the hospital, and Ryan, who was working, spent nights. “In the first several weeks, I was at the NICU almost all of the daytime, and at home for dinner, bath time and bedtime for Samuel. When [they] became more stable, I spent about six hours per day at the NICU and my afternoons and evenings with Samuel. Ryan would visit the twins in the evenings after Samuel had gone to bed.”

After a long 141 days, Jude came home, and nine days later, his twin brother followed. The Sweeneys finally were a family of five under one roof. No more wires. No more machines. No more people.

Emily says during her experience, she leaned on two friends who had babies born around the same gestational age. “I always tell people that [being a NICU parent] is a club that you don’t want to have to join, but if you do, you’re glad that it exists because [my friends] were the biggest help.”

Anyone who has had a child in the NICU knows how attached parents can get to the nurses. They are the first people you see when you walk in the room. They are the ones who teach you how to change their tiny diapers and feed them. They are the ones who love your babies and treat parents with compassion.

Lauren Nikolic, a NICU nurse at Children’s Memorial Hermann, was a comforting presence during our newborn twins’ stay. We’ve stayed in touch and see her from time to time.

“I recently took care of a baby who was finally able to wear clothes for the first time,” Lauren told me recently. “He was practically swimming in a preemie-sized onesie, but his mom and dad kept remarking on how big he was. Perspective is everything. I love watching parents get excited over the little things. Watching parents change a teeny tiny diaper for the first time is so special.”

So, while our NICU days are moving further into the past, I can still close my eyes and hear the beeping sounds of the machines. I can still smell their fresh baby skin as I held them against my hospital gown (which you are required to wear in the NICU). I can see the nurses burping tiny babies. We are part of the NICU family now, and I will be forever grateful.

To leave a comment, please log in or create an account with The Buzz Magazines, Disqus, Facebook, or Twitter. Or you may post as a guest.