How to Cope With Leaving Your Twins Behind at The NICU

One of the hardest things to do as a new parent is to leave your baby behind when you are released from the hospital after delivery. If you have twins, then it is twice as hard, and every tip helps. Read on to learn some coping strategies to ease the pain of leaving your twins behind at the NICU.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. The first thing you must realize is that it is not your fault. Many times, parents will feel as though it is their fault that the babies came early, or have a health problem. This train of thought is completely unnecessary and does not help you at all. Sometimes life is not fair, and this is one of those times. Put these thoughts out of your mind.
2. Understand that while your twins are in the NICU, and being cared for, they are still your kids. Often, parents will lose connection with the twins as they are now being cared for by the myriad nurses and doctors in the NICU. Sometimes the nurses will grow to have maternal instincts with the babies they care for. Do not let them push you around.
3. More often than not, the nurses on the ward will be genuine and caring. They are there to help your babies get healthy enough to come home. If you embrace that help, then you will be treated well in most cases. Do not be afraid to speak up about your child.
4. Make sure that you get plenty of rest so that you can take care of your twins when they come home. Certainly spend time at the NICU; but do not try to be there all day every day. You will simply wear yourself out and will be no good to your twins when they do come home.
5. Go ahead and prepare for the twins to come home. Chances are if they are in the NICU they probably came premature. Use some of this time to finish up whatever was not done when they decided to come early. Get yourself prepared for the homecoming.
6. Ask questions, and take down the answers on paper or recording. To fully understand the efforts that the doctors are making, you sometimes need to review the information away from the hospital and in the peace of your home. You will want to refer to this information often.
7. Take advantage of private rooms at the NICU. Many NICU's have private rooms that allow you to sit quietly and enjoy your twins. If this is an option, by all means take this time to try to bond with the twins. You will treasure those moments in so many ways.