Wonderful

I love this. Kangaroo Care for a new mom and her 35ish weeker that started with some priceless bonding time and progressed to the baby waking up from a nice sleep, wriggling around until he found the breast, latching on, and breastfeeding for the very first time. Mom's expression of happiness was priceless. Little dude did well, too.

A Little Encouragement

One of my premature patients has this sign at her bedside, placed there lovingly by her parents. They are wonderful and have a great sense of humor to help them tackle the many challenges associated with having a premie.

This has been one of the times that I've never met the parents in person. They visit frequently during the daytime, and I'm a night shifter, so it's been phone contact only. I still feel as though I've had the chance to form a better "working relationship" with them via phone than I have with some other families I've worked with for multiple days and hours of face-to-face contact.

Is it personality? Readiness to connect? Sense of shared history with a baby (some of my best family contacts have been with families of babies I've done the delivery room or transport on - maybe it's that "first contact" bond?).