Welcome to the Preemie Paradox
Spending time with your nicu baby!
We help show you methods to remove the roadblocks that keep you from seeing your baby or prevent you from doing more for your baby after you're out of the nicu. Sometimes things cannot be any different and you'll have to learn to work around them. We hope to give you tips and tricks to deal with the hard times and help you plan for the future with our preemie courses! Our preemie blog has many articles about how preemie life from inside and out of the nicu, from how to chose your support team to how to set up your milk station. Dealing with the specialist your child will see after your baby gets out has a degree of difficulty!
Our founders personal problem with prematurity!
The Nashville Tennessee skyline was in clear view from the parking garage where we would enter the hospital. So many people would go downtown to have fun and kick their boots to the live bands that play in the clubs that made Nashville famous. Our visit would go on to have a one pound thirteen ounce baby girl who would get picc lines inserted and an oxygen mask right after birth. She had a quick glance to mom before getting taken away to the nicu while we were taken to another room. Our room was on the same floor as the nursery, so while we were silent, the halls were full of congratulated celebrations from friends and family. Pass the cigars and have a party seemed to be the mood.
We would eventually go down and see our daughter who looked more like a red alien and nothing like the fat bouncy babies in the nursery. We were told about all the possibilities and risk that could take place and were taught the nicu protocol for entering and exiting. We would have many problems during our stay and many sad nights. Such a stark contrast to the hoards of party people downtown, or the promise of leaving with a baby the next morning like those whose baby was in the nursery. For a long time we were silent, scared, and hopeless. We had never heard of anyone who wanted a preemie that would go to the nicu and we just learned why.
Many parents walk this path to the nicu or picu. Their kids may leave with oxygen tanks, feeding tubes, and other medical responsibilities for the parents to tend to as the parents become the medical staff for their kids. Some babies will not make it out and force parents to make funeral plans while they were already stressed. These are just a few examples of daily life in nicu's around the world.
So where does a parent go for help when they still have to face the demand of the nicu or see outside specialist once their child is out?
A Preemie Problem
Having a preemie requires great responsibility and many care organizations are there for you to talk to someone who understands just how you feel. Unfortunately you can talk all you want but you still have to do the work and find ways to coexist with your day to day responsibilities and the nicu.
One of our Answers
We decided to start a live show where we talk to professionals about issues in the nicu. Our courses are on specific topics to teach parents post nicu care for themselves. These live and pre- recorded shows can offer content for parents to get in on conversations about preemie life today on their terms!
We have many ways of bringing you the content you need for future success!
A parent needs to answer the question of "how do I know what areas I need help in?" and "what type of learning do I need?" These questions should illuminate the methodology a parent should use on what type of content they should be spending their time in. A reader may not like video, a listener may not like plain text! A natural way of learning may be hard to find in the already small group of post nicu care organizations. The Preemie Paradox takes the entire spectrum in mind when we design our content!
Preemie Apprentice
Our online courses can help you with your problem areas. We have a NICU parent diagnostic quiz that can accurately determine the topic you need the most help in. The courses range from beginner to advanced with many topics covered. Some courses are free to NICU graduates so check them out today!
Our Live Show
The Preemie Paradox started out with the idea about a live show where we could talk to industry professionals on premature issues. Those conversations led to a larger group being formed and the live show. If you would like to see the show then check out our YouTube channel.
Community Support
There are many places to get help from today. The Preemie Paradox provides mostly post NICU support through a community effort to try and find answers for those in need. On our website are several places you can find helpful resources to help you from others who have similar problems.
Here are the Preemie Paradox Partners
I had my son at 34 weeks who has had many complications after leaving the nicu so I understand life as a preemie mom with a lot of responsibilities.
Kierstin
co-host of the live show.
My daughter was a preemie born at 26 weeks 2 days at 1lb 13oz. We had a long NICU stay and many complications that led me to look for answers.
Michael
Founder of the Preemie Paradox
As a neonatal nurse practitioner that works for a large children's hospital in the NICU. I've done everything from diaper duty to airplane rescues.
Kari
co-host of the live show.
The Preemie Paradox Live Show!
The Preemie Paradox Live Show is specifically about life in and out of the nicu! We have guest on the show who are professionals in the industry talking on their specialized field of study, and people who work in support groups talking about latest studies and areas of repair! You won't want to miss The Preemie Paradox Live Show on Facebook and YouTube!
We know our friends in the NICU help community have plenty of care options to choose from. We mainly focus on post NICU life. Once you get home and try to re-establish a normal life you may find it hard to make decisions. We use engineering principles to cut through the noise in your mind. We use logic and reason to come to positions and criteria you can count on. All persons in The Preemie Paradox have NICU experience and understand the complication of NICU life.
Do any of these descriptions relate to you? We seek to find the areas you need help with most so you don't waste your time getting help from something that only makes you worse!
Foggy Headed?
Do you need clarity and find it hard to figure out your weak areas?
Come back later?
Do you wish you can just escape and come back when it's all over?
Anxiety?
Do you find that talking about the NICU just makes matters worse?
We try to find out find out what areas you need help in and then find one of our courses that fully explores your problem area. Our preemie apprentice courses are the best way to learn about subjects that are common in having premature children!
The Preemie Apprentice
Our Preemie Apprentice online courses have a lot of value added information that any NICU parent could learn from. We decided to take an approach in course design that would allow for FREE courses of basic information a parent would need to know along side of the paid premium courses. This way a NICU family can get quality information and all of the support we offer to help our fellow NICU parents. The Premium content courses are packed with features and require focus and determination to be the best parent you can be. The Preemie Premium courses are a great way for friends and family to help you while you're in the NICU or at home holding your sleeping baby.
The Premium Preemie courses are a great way for friends and family to help their loved ones to get specialized knowledge in areas that will effect parents with children in the NICU/PICU! The free courses have basic knowledge that explains an overview of terminology and procedures found in most NICU areas. The support page has many helpful sections that can help parents with tips and reminders they can use in and out of the NICU/PICU by asking support type questions directly to our team!
We even help your friends and family support group!
Many preemie parents have friends and family who can help them if the parents can clearly identify what they need them to do! Grandparents have their place in the relationship of the family bond and can play a part in watching other kids while preemie parents go to the nicu. Someone could clean up the parents house or get groceries for them. We have content for each member of your group. We even show tips and tricks you and your team can use to help you accomplish your goals!
Sometimes a photo aid that goes on a lens could help in getting a baby to smile or laugh!
We can help you with ideas about how to tell your friends and family you're expecting a baby!
The examples in our courses show you how to set up your milk stations for feeding and washing!
We help those with infant and pregnancy loss.
Losing a child is very hard on all persons involved but the parents are hit the hardest. So many helpful resources teach parents to try to move on as fast as they can to cancel the effects of grief. We take a different view that is more understanding of the situation and gives parents a time to grieve and come to terms with their loss and their next steps to try again or be done.
Selecting your post NICU team players
Selecting your team is a big decision and not everyone can help you. We have paged devoted to giving responsibilities to family members and friends who can help you in a time of need or a moments notice when things come up. We also have things for the preemie parents who task these individuals with the helper role so everyone gets what they need from the situation.
See the buttons below to see if one of our pages can help you select your team and give them the task you need to help you out. Mainly the family is your main resource in choosing your team members so we selected roles and realize that if this member is not an option to select a person that most fits the role on the page.
The NICU Common Problems and Special Needs
There are plenty of terminology used in the NICU that is foreign language to us parents. The conditions are common and scare the hell out of us so we go through a few of the most common conditions here at the page linked in the button below. The special needs community is filled with people who had to go to the NICU shortly after birth.
Doctor working on a baby in the nicu.
baby roadmap to leave the nicu.
Many of the children who become NICU graduates will go home on oxygen, feeding tubes, and helmets that help their heads stay round. Autism and other neurodivergent disorders are very common in the NICU children but can't be officially diagnosed until age 2. It is not uncommon to see a former preemie with a wheelchair or crutches once they begin to learn to walk so check out our page linked below for more information about this topic!
Make sure to check out our YouTube page!
Please Subscribe to our page and ring the bell icon for new videos as they come out so you can stay up to date with the latest content from The Preemie Paradox.
The Preemie Paradox Podcast!
For those who would rather listen, we want to make sure you never miss out on a new episode? Subscribe to our podcast using your favorite app!
Featured Post
Nicu Awareness Month?
NICU Awareness Month vs National Prematurity Month Preemie Parents have two months
