A NICU intro to parenting
Our NICU Experience
Our daughter Brady was born twelve weeks early, at 28 weeks, weighing 1 lb 7 oz. She spent 94 days in the hospital before we brought her home. We wrote these posts as it happened: the scary days, the small wins, and the people who carried us through. If you’re in the NICU right now, we hope something here helps.
- 28 weeks
- 1 lb 7 oz
- 94 days
- 81 posts
Eighteen years later
Brady is eighteen now, and she graduated this year.
When we wrote these posts we had no idea how the story would go. If you’re reading this next to an isolette, we remember that feeling: the alarms, the ounces gained and lost, the waiting. We hope our good days give you some hope, and our hard days remind you you’re not the only one having them.
— Erik & Nikkie
The story, from the beginning
July 2008
Brady arrives at 28 weeks and 1 lb 7 oz; the hole in her heart closes, and Nikkie holds her for the first time.
Brady's First Blog
A few days after Brady's early birth, Erik starts this blog so family and friends can follow her health in one place.
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I'm going to be a what?...when?
Nikkie shares Brady's first days: medicine for a small hole in her heart, paused feedings, and why we changed her middle name to Faith.
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one whole hand old today!
At five days old, an ultrasound shows the hole in Brady's heart has closed, and her doctor lowers her Vapotherm and calls her "great."
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Easy Updates from BradyFaith.Com
A housekeeping note: Erik explains how to follow the blog by RSS feed or email alerts.
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More good news
Brady starts feedings after losing weight, and Nikkie takes her temperature and changes her first diapers through the isolette's arm holes.
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One Week Old
At one week, Brady comes off the jaundice light and her oxygen, gives us a smile, and Erik goes back to work.
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oh what a day
Still healing from surgery, Nikkie brings a crowd of family in to meet Brady, gives her first bath, and hears her head scan shows no brain bleed.
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Can't See My Little Girl
Erik loses his voice to a sore throat and has to stay out of the NICU so he won't pass germs to Brady.
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yet another day in the NICU
After two weeks of good news, Brady's heart rate starts dipping and a limb swells, but we learn we can hold her tomorrow; she's 1 lb 8 oz.
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Wonderful Day
Nearly two weeks after Brady's birth, Nikkie holds her skin to skin for the first time, for an hour, while the monitor still flashes.
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AAHHHHHH!
We spend 90 minutes with Brady with the isolette top lifted, and Erik catches her in a giant yawn on camera.
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