You are listening to episode 88, what to expect in the NICU, and how to participate in care and foster your baby's development.

Welcome to this week's episode in honor of NICU Awareness Month, a month that celebrates

families who have had NICU babies and the caregivers and medical professionals that take care of them.

I am welcoming Dr. Kate Ruby to this episode, who is a neonatologist, and I'll also be welcoming another Kate,

who is a OT who specializes in development in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Dr. Kate is joining me today to talk about what you can expect in the NICU, what happens on NICU rounds with the NICU team, and so much more.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Kate.

Of course, thank you for inviting me.

I'm so excited that you were able to join me because I had a son in the NICU.

We had a term baby in the NICU, which is one of those more unexpected NICU admissions.

I know a lot of the times parents may have a prenatal visit, and they have the expectation that there may be a NICU admission pending,

but for so many families, it's a surprise.

We're going to be talking about just what to expect overall in the NICU, what may be happening in terms of interventions,

what the goals are for discharge overall.

But before we start, tell us a little bit more about yourself.

Yeah, so I'm Kate.

I did my residency in pediatrics in Wisconsin, and then I came out to Philadelphia to do three additional years of neonatology training to become an expert in everything baby related.

And I got to graduate in 2020, actually, so I'm just starting my second year as a clinical attending in the NICU.

And I actually split my time between the NICU and a research lab.

So I spend about 80% of my time doing research in lab, and then the other 20% is in the NICU taking care of babies.

And I just happy to be here today.

Oh, that's awesome. What is your research on?

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