nervous about leaving for a few days

I look at it like this.....My child is in the best hands. Those Dr.'s and nurses know what they are doing and will let you know if something comes up.

Love and light,
Take care of yourself while they Dr.'s take care of Henry.

Liz

This may be one of the hardest parts of the NICU..when to leave and when to stay and when you can't be there. My doctor put visitation restrictions on me b/c of my health and I felt so guilty but the nurses do take great care. I called in at least once each shift change to get an update. It was still hard to leave them and let someone else take care of them but you do have to nurture yourself and the rest of your family because you need to be ready when they come home.
Welcome to Share. We can't wait to hear more.
Ellen

I agree with everyone else, it's really hard to leave your child in the NICU just so you can go tend to other things that need to be done. Call as often as you need to in order to feel comfortable, the nurses will understand. It's going to be hard but it certainly doesn't make you a bad parent, it just means you care.
Laura

I have been having a very hard time with this myself. My twin boys are in the NICU and will be probably for a couple of months. I was only 27 weeks when I gave birth on June 9th because they had twin to twin transfusion. The day they were taken out the doctor didn't think the smaller one would survive outside of the womb, but he has and both of them really have been doing great... but I'm terrified to leave them here alone even for an hour. I got set up with this sort of boarding house for families with sick children where I can stay and come and go as I please, but I have yet to spend a night away from them. Every time I try to make plans to leave my anxiety kicks in and I litterally have a panic attack. It's sooooo hard, I'm always worried that the one night I leave will be the night something goes wrong. The NICU team here has been wonderful and super accomodating, I've been sleeping between the boys rooms and the nurses are making me very comfortable and will allow me to stay until they are released.... but I know I have to at some point go home and take care of things. I just don't know what to do about this.

It is extremley hard to leave a child in the NICU. My advice is to do it on a night when there is a regular nurse who you are comfortable with. Let her know that you want to be called with ANY changes or problems. If it's a nurse you trust they will call and let you decide if you need to go back in. Then, just walk away. I know it's excruciating but you need to take care of you. You need to be well rested for when they do get home. You don't want to go back home and then feel like you have a million things to take care of at home in addition to taking care of your babies. The other option is to have someone else take care of things at home, maybe a family member or close friend? You just need to do whatever makes you most comfortable.
Laura