Recently, a friend of mine had a baby. She had a textbook pregnancy and gave birth right on schedule to an almost nine-pound baby. It should have been the happiest day of her life.

But it wasn’t.

At some point during the delivery or before, the baby inhaled meconium and developed an infection. Instead of cuddling her new little one in her arms, the mom and dad were frantically driving to a hospital in a larger city as their new baby was airlifted to their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU for short.

How do families deal with having their dreams deferred by a side trip to the NICU? How can you prepare for an experience like that? How can you help a friend of family member that is looking at their baby through a plastic crib cover? [Read more…] about Surviving the NICU As a New Parent