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Dear NICU Mama,
@dearnicumama

46,264 followers

NICU Awareness Month is a time of year when the world’s focus turns to our unique experiences. Stories of triumph, grief, struggle, and unbridled joy fill our feeds. It can be affirming to be so visible, to realize how many families have walked this path and come out on the other side, and to connect with people who have lived this too. At the same time, the wave of NICU-related content can lead us to compare, to see how others are processing and wonder how we fit in. This is especially true when it comes to sharing your family’s NICU story.  There are times when sharing your story is as natural as breathing. It can be a relief to set the words free, to feel the connection they cultivate and the validation it brings. Hearing others’ experiences softens yours, helping to speed your healing. Celebrating your child with people who know and appreciate this world is cathartic. They are seen and so are you.  Sometimes, though, your heart feels especially tender. Sharing your experience isn’t healing: it’s painful. Reliving those moments is triggering and isolating. You may feel conflicted about sharing details of your child’s story, especially if you worry they may be compared to others or wonder how their dramatic entrance, so impactful on you both, could come to define them. Even so, as you hear others opening up, you may feel pressure to join in, despite not being ready. Healing is not a straight path. It is full of dips and arches, valleys and peaks, loops and left turns and backwards stretches. Your feelings toward sharing your story may vary from day to day, hour to hour, or minute to minute. This NICU Awareness month, we want you to know that you belong here, in this sisterhood, no matter where your heart lies in this moment. We welcome you. We celebrate you. We are proud of you. And we are here for you, both when you feel ready to share and when you are not. You are never alone. #dearnicumama