NYT article about ongoing trauma to NICU parents

[eleni]

This might sound familiar ... I wonder how much undiagnosed PTSD our parents deal with? Also interesting to see that moms suffer the consequences immediately while dads deal with it much later.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/health/25trau.html?nl=health&emc=healthupdateema1

[hannahsmom]

Boy, this all sounds so familiar. Especially the part about a minor medical issue involving the child sending the parents into panic years later. That happens to me! Thanks for sharing, Eleni :)

[jend01]

Thanks for posting; luckily my son didn't have to go to the NICU. However I am very familiar with PTSD as I have been diagnosed 8 months after he was born. I suffered for a long time and everyone kept saying it was PP depression, which I knew it was not. I have been doing much better and did some research and found that PTSD is very common after an experience with PE. I imagine I would have been much worse off if my son had to be in the NICU along with the trauma that I had. I'm sorry that anyone has to deal with this, but I am glad that I found people who understand. :)

[dohertyab]

that's what is so wonderful about this forum. my hubby is over everything, I still remember it as though it was yesterday. It really does help to know there are other people out there who can relate. Thanks everyone!

[kdreher]

I have to say that I'm a bit more calm most days and I do worry when Michael gets sick (just sick this past week with bad cold/cough/asthma now....) but DH is the one I'd say has been more affected. He worries over his weight gain, how much he eats per day, when he gets a sniffle etc. I will never forget the NICU experience but I've been able to move forward. Maybe also because of me loosing Tyler...Michael is my miracle and a survivor so I focus on him thriving and getting bigger.

[annes]

I thought this article was really interesting. I had three very different NICU experiences, all three had good and bad, but I still get occassional flashbacks from them all.

[amandaoasis]

Thanks for posting! It always helps to have things like this available to show to family/friends who might not understand how seriously we are affected by these experiences.

[jend01]

Amanda, I never even thought to show this to other people who didn't understand!! Thanks for posting that, it seems so obvious, but I just never thought it.

[swagner23]

Thank you for posting that! I had to show it to my hubby - he has showed all the signs of PTSD. No one was there to tell us that this could happen.

[audrey s.]

I had to go back to work in a childrens' hospital, it was very hard to go into the NICU, especially when I had to do studies on babies who were dying of what my daughter had (NEC). I still cry at any and all milestones; the bat mitzvah, ON her birthday, was especially difficult, and I took a LOT of teasing from family, friends, and the rabbi, but I know you all understand!

This year she wanted to go to Disneyland with some friends (you can go for free on your birthday). We took them and dropped them off, and I realized at the end of the day, FINALLY I had gotten through this day without a single flashback, for the first time. It took 14 years, but I really was focussed on the logistics of getting 6 kids to Anaheim rather than painful memories of her birth.