Mother’s Day in the Sibley NICU: A Blessing, Not A Curse

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Multi-Generational Mother's Day
We had a multi-generational Mother’s Day with Mommy and Grandma.

I started my motherhood journey with two beautiful, tiny babies — and I had to ask permission from someone else at the hospital to hold them.  When I was discharged from Sibley Memorial Hospital, and my newborn twins were not, the floodgates opened.  I cried.  A lot.  

Then one day, my crying stopped.  It was my very first Mother’s Day to be exact.  That morning, I had an important epiphany.  I had known it all along and even said it out loud.  But eight days after my four-pound loves were born, I finally believed it — there was no better place in the world for my babies than where we were, the Sibley NICU.

There’s No Place Like Home, or the NICU

When the heart rate alarm went off, the Sibley nurses were there. Right when the babes needed feeding tubes, the nurses were there.  If they needed a friendly reminder to breathe, the Sibley nurses were there.

I want the best for my babies and did everything I could to make sure they were born healthy and happy.  I took my vitamins and ate my vegetables while pregnant.  I gave up wine and sacrificed my daily Diet Coke.  I followed doctor’s orders.  But, I had a very hard time following those orders when I was told to leave my babies behind.  

NICU Mother's Day Card
The babies, with just a little help from the Sibley nurses, made Mother’s Day cards in the NICU.

But little did I know that late at night, under the bright, unforgiving fluorescent NICU lights, the arts and craft fairies got to work with the babies.  Nothing says Happy Mother’s Day quite like two growing newborns, who worked hard to make you a Mother’s Day card with their tiny footprints.  That little gesture made all the difference and reminded me that even though they were under the care of others, I was still their mom.  While my babies needed the nurses, they also needed me.  Well played, Sibley.  Well played.

If you are in a NICU somewhere with your babies, I hope you are able to find comfort and strength during these times.  It is tough, but hang in there — and I hope you get some memorable art out of it!

 

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Angelle Smith Baugh
Born and raised on the bayou in South Louisiana, Angelle moved to DC for undergrad at Georgetown. After working on the Hill and Disney's government relations office, Angelle traded-in her Mickey Mouse ears for law school at GW. An election law and white-collar defense attorney at Covington & Burling, Angelle's other full-time job is mom to twin toddlers Emma and Evan (2016). She and her husband Jordan live on Capitol Hill/H Street, where the twins excitedly yell "choo choo" every time they see the streetcar. In her spare time, Angelle scours the internet for coordinating smocked clothing for her twins and dreaming about the international family travel she will do once Emma and Evan learn to sleep or watch feature-length movies on a plane. All posts are her own views.