Welcome to the Peds Doc Talk podcast. I'm Dr. Mona, your pediatrician and online mom friend,

and this is the follow-up, where we revisit a favorite past episode with a little more pizzazz.

September is NICU Awareness Month, and this one is personal for me. Maybe some of you don't know this,

but I am a NICU mom, even as a pediatrician, married to an ER doctor.

Nothing prepared us for what happened when my son, Ryan, was born and became a full-term baby in the NICU.

He was full-term and yet at just 24 hours old, we found out he'd had a stroke during delivery and was having

seizures. Our traumatic delivery was more than I could have ever imagined and he came out blue,

not breathing, and was whisked away to the NICU and so began our journey as a NICU family. After a

traumatic birth, hearing that news and watching

him go to the NICU was one of the hardest periods of my life. I had taken care of kids in

the NICU as a resident. I knew the medicine, but becoming a NICU mom is a completely different lens.

I'll never forget the nurses, who comforted me when I cried, who explained things when I was

terrified of the unknown, who gave me space to both be a mom and a doctor without judgment.

Our ICU nurses, whether it's in the NICU or PICU, are incredible.

They care for the sickest of the sick, but when you're the parent on the other side, you see

just how much heart goes into their work, including the staff're the parent on the other side, you see just how much heart goes

into their work, including the staff in the NICU, every single person, including the doctors,

the nurses, the nurse practitioners, the PAs, and all the ancillary staff make this easier

for families at such a hard time. So today, in honor of NICU Awareness Month, we're revisiting this episode on what to expect if your baby needs the NICU. It's for anyone who's been there, who may one day walk through it, or who's living it right now, or who just wants to celebrate the families and the professionals who make the NICU what it is. And before we jump in, don't forget, download this episode.

That's what helps the show the most. And if it resonates with you, share it on social and tag

at PedsDock Talk and at the Peds Dock Talk podcast so more families can feel seen and supported.

Let's get into it.

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