Re: preemie-l several questions from new preemie mom
Steven F. Holle (steve@oz.sunflower.org)
Thu, 20 Jun 1996 23:12:54 -0500
Jackie Sturgill wrote:
>
> 1. Has anyone lost friends because you have a preemie baby, that
> may be potentially special needs?
Actually, we were very fortunate. We had close friends that not only came to the
hopsital occassionally, but also took the infant CPR, O2, and Apnea Monitor classes.
Your friends may just not know what to say, or do. When our twins were born at 27
weeks, several people were congratulating us on the birth of our twins. At the time, I
really didn't feel like congratulations were in order, but maybe sympathy. It took some
time to get things sorted out. The same may be true of your friends.
>
> 2. Is there a national preemie parents organization, specific &
> just for preemies & their families? (i.e. Not the March of Dimes
> or Children's Miracle Network)
I'll defer this to someone who knows. I'm not aware of any.
>
> 3. For those with older siblings to the preemie, how did the
> sibling deal emotionally with the preemie, while the baby was
> in NICU?
Our 5 year old, acted with interest and facination. He really had no prior contact with
infants, otherwise he may have reacted more like your 9 year old. I think you hit the
"nail on the head" about the grieving process. I think I might just be getting over my
grief after 9 months. One of my co-workers had a child shortly after our preemies were
born. I was so "jealous" of their "luck" of having full-term, 10#+ infant.
I hope this is of some help.
Steve