“Dear NICU mama, You may not know it now, but one day you will be a walking letter of hope for the NICU mom who has to spend the night alone in the postpartum unit.
When your baby is taken from you and you are left alone to worry, even when you know it’s for the best, it hurts in ways you never expected. It’s okay to admit that this isn’t the snuggles and bliss you imagined. It’s scary when motherhood begins with such intensity, but it changes you. You become the mother your baby needs without second-guessing yourself. It’s adrenaline and toughness, and somehow you find the strength to do it because it’s what your baby needs.
You become a source of hope for the next mama who has to walk this path. She now knows she isn’t alone when she feels the most alone. You are hope for the next mama when she feels like no one else could possibly understand. And while you wish no one had to understand, you do. You can be there to support the women who need to be strong when strength feels impossible to find.
You are stronger than you know, and one day your story may be the hope someone else desperately needs.”
Love,
Emily
