Dear NICU Mama

It’s time for another Mamas Call In episode! This episode’s prompt was, “As a NICU parent, what were the moments during your NICU journey when you felt you needed the most courage? Or when do you believe you demonstrated the greatest courage?” We're now accepting submissions for our October call-in episode: "Share a moment, in or out of the NICU, where you experienced unexpected joy.&quo...

On this week’s podcast episode, we continue Sarah’s remarkable NICU journey with her twin boys, Noah and Uriah. Throughout this episode, Sarah shares the challenges of navigating complex medical decisions, including both boys’ heart surgeries and Uriah’s extended NICU stay. She opens up about the emotional process of bringing Noah home while Uriah remained in the hospital and the life-changing dec...

The Dear NICU Mama podcast is back! While we’re grateful for the extra time we had with our families this summer, we’re so excited to be back in this space with all of you. To kick off Season 9, we are honored to share part 1 of Sarah’s powerful NICU journey with her twin boys. In this episode, Sarah opens up about the unexpected complications during her pregnancy, her time on bed rest, and what l...

On this week’s episode we have a conversation about life after NICU with Mary Farrelly with The NICU Translator! Mary Farrelly is a certified NICU nurse, doula, nurse educator, mom of two and the founder of The NICU Translator where she helps to bridge the gap between the NICU and home through education, community and 1:1 support. In this episode we continue our theme of life after NICU and Mary s...

Walking Letter of Hope Day is THIS SUNDAY, July 28th! And to celebrate, we have the honor of sharing Daniela’s NICU journey with her full-term son Mateo. She shares openly about her unexpected complications during labor that lead to an extended NICU stay, what it was like to deliver and navigate the NICU during the pandemic, and how she found the courage to grow her family again. We also chat abou...

Three years after Ashley’s first son, Vinson, was born at 21 weeks gestation and passed away shortly afterward, she welcomed her second son, Kolin, at 25 weeks gestation via emergency c-section. Just days after his birth, Kolin was diagnosed with bilateral brain bleeds. During his stay he also developed hydrocephalus and required a shunt, not to mention the PVLs. Despite being told of all the thin...

What if indecisiveness is a result of our birth and NICU trauma? On today’s podcast episode, we have speaker and somatic trauma consultant Parijat Deshpande on the podcast and we have an insightful conversation all about indecisiveness how we can identify it as a signal rather than a problem to be fixed. Throughout this episode we talk about: • The different types of “threat state patterns” and a...

This week is part 2 of Trisha’s motherhood journey! Throughout this episode, Trisha shares about the early days at home with her twins, what it was like being pregnant after a high-risk pregnancy and NICU journey, and her daughter’s diagnosis with Down Syndrome. She also shares openly about the journey to becoming the advocate she is today, encouragement for medically complex families who are navi...

On this week’s episode, we talk with Trisha Stibbe and hear the story of her identical twins, Sam + Jack who were born at 28 weeks! Trisha shares about her journey navigating twin to twin transfusion, an early delivery, and advocating for her twins in the NICU. She also opens up about isolation, how friendships shift and change, and the new identity that NICU moms often go through on top of naviga...

It’s time for another Mamas Call In episode! In honor of Father's Day soon approaching, we want to celebrate the NICU dads and partners in your life! We asked our community to share a time, inside or outside the NICU, when they felt deeply supported by their partner and/or when their partners showed remarkable courage as a NICU parent. We also want to acknowledge that this topic may be sensit...

On this week's podcast episode, we have part one of team member Carrie’s journey with her daughter Hattie! Carrie is a full-term NICU mom to Hattie who spent 19 days in the NICU. Throughout Carrie’s pregnancy, Carrie worked alongside a doula and took hypnobirthing classes with the hope of having an all-natural birth. However once at the hospital, it was discovered that Hattie was breech and C...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! And this week’s podcast episode is a special roundtable episode all about mental health with co-hosts Ashley and Aisha, and team members Lexxa + Kamille! Throughout this episode they each share vulnerably about their own mental health journeys both in and out of the NICU, and how they have continued to prioritize their mental health throughout each motherhood...

It’s not uncommon for NICU mothers to experience a traumatic birth, and therefore also process the grief that comes after our births don’t go the way we had always dreamed. We wanted to have a conversation with an expert who specializes in healing after birth trauma, and we are honored to have Kayleigh Summers of The Birth Trauma Mama as our guest today! In this episode we cover: What is the defin...

Happy Mother’s Day, NICU mama! We know for many of us, holidays like Mother’s Day can be tender - especially if you are celebrating in the NICU. This week’s episode is a mini episode where co-hosts Aisha and Ashley and members of our sisterhood share how they celebrate and have celebrated Mother’s Day! We hope this episode is a reminder to celebrate in a way that honors your heat. This episode’s p...

On today’s episode of the Dear NICU Mama podcast we have the very special privilege to talk with NICU mama and NICU nurse, Kerrie! Kerrie’s daughter Kate was born prematurely at 25 weeks gestation due to an abruption and fetal distress. She spent three months in the NICU before coming home to meet her brother and sisters, and she is now three and thriving! Kerrie has been a registered nurse for ov...

April is C-Section Awareness Month! And this week’s podcast episode Part 2 of a special roundtable episode all about c-sections with co-hosts Ashley and Aisha, and team members Lindsay + Kristen! Throughout this episode they each share more about their healing journey post delivery both emotionally and physically, and what they wish others knew about c-sections. We hope these episodes have been va...

April is C-Section Awareness Month! And this week’s podcast episode is a special roundtable episode all about c-sections with co-hosts Ashley and Aisha, and team members Lindsay + Kristen! Throughout this episode they each share openly about their own c-section deliveries, what they knew about c-sections prior to their deliveries, and how they have processed their birth plan not going to plan. The...

It’s time for another Mamas Call In episode! The topic of developmental milestones, and when and if our NICU grads reach those milestones, can be a very tender subject. On one hand, we are so PROUD of the milestones our children are reaching, and on the other, we can feel exhausted by the amount of charts and graphs that are continually tracking and telling us where our kids should be. This dualit...

This week’s podcast episode is a replay episode from season 6 of the Dear NICU Mama podcast! For the NICU mamas in our sisterhood who find themselves splitting time between their children at home and children in the NICU, we hope you feel seen and heard by this episode. Use code “nicumama” for 50% off Katie’s How to prepare, support and respond to your child during shots course! Find the episode t...

On this week's podcast episode, we have part two of team member Carolissa’s journey with her daughter Elizabeth! Elizabeth was born at 31 weeks and had a 56 day NICU stay. Throughout this episode, Carolissa shares openly about what it was like to split time in the NICU with Elizabeth and time with her older daughter Sophia at home, and what it was like to transition to life as a family of fou...

On this week's podcast episode, we have part one of team member Carolissa’s journey with her daughter Elizabeth! Elizabeth was born at 31 weeks and had a 56 day NICU stay. Throughout this episode, Carolissa shares vulnerably about the rollercoaster of a ride her motherhood journey has been, including experiencing secondary infertility and the emotions that arise when things don’t go the way w...

As NICU families, birthdays often come with a variety of emotions. Joy for the life of our NICU miracles, and grief for their entrance into the world. It’s not uncommon to feel a variety of emotions on birthdays, and in an effort to explore this more we reached out to this sisterhood to share their experiences with navigating and processing birthdays! This episode’s prompt was, “How have you proce...

On this week's podcast episode, we have the honor of hearing DNM team member and podcast co-host Aisha’s NICU journey with her daughter Eva. Eva was born prematurely at 26 weeks at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and had an 82 day NICU stay. Eva is Aisha’s second preemie baby after losing her first, Enzo, earlier in 2018. Throughout the episode Aisha shares what it was like to have a pr...

This week's podcast episode is the recording from our live podcast event hosted by Thrivent for Giving Hearts Day! At this free event, members of our local community were able to order a coffee and hear Tyler + Carrie's NICU journey with their son Jett, and learn more about Dear NICU Mama and who we are as an organization. It was such a special way to kick off the week of Giving Hearts D...

Welcome to Season 8 and Happy Valentine’s Day, beautiful mamas! We hope you are all having a cozy winter and that your 2024 is off to a wonderful start. We are so excited to be back on the podcast with you all and share a Mamas Call In episode! This week’s prompt was, “What is a fun date night you and your partner did in the NICU, or a fun memory you have with your partner in the NICU?” We are exc...