Learn
Posted on June 21, 2009
A few weeks ago I wrote about how self-educating myself during our infertility journey helped me in discussions with our doctors as well as overall peace of mind. One thing that I didn’t do well was learn how to read or communicate well with my husband during that time in our lives. We worked though these issues, and I applied what I learned about our relationship, body language, and such when our girls were in the NICU.
For seven weeks I communicated effectively with the medical staff in the NICU. I sat by my daughters’ bedsides and watched their every move and their every breath. I knew the details of their medications, schedule, status, etc. During rounds the doctors would often ask me my opinion about how my daughters were doing that day. They knew that I knew more about my girls than any of the nurses on staff.
A few days after my daughter Copy Cat had surgery she wasn’t eating. Before she had surgery she was having trouble breathing, something we learned that was due to the pain she had because of her illness. After her surgery she was breathing wonderfully. In addition, she was a great pink color and somewhat active. All characteristics lacking when she was ill. The nurses panicked because she wasn’t eating and thought she might be getting sick again. I thought she wasn’t eating because she was tired and her poor little body hadn’t been used to so much food. One of the NNP’s asked me what I thought. I gave her my opinion and they adapted Copy Cat’s feeding based on my feedback.
So, my lesson learned was that preparing yourself through self-education on a topic is helpful, but learning how to read and help your loved ones, we’ll that’s when you can make a real difference in the quality of their and your lives.
» Filed Under Infertility, Personal Growth, Premature Births
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It’s true, communication in a relationship is essential. Josh and I will often find ourselves detaching as we’re both trying to cope and grieve with our infertility and pregnancy loss. We try to stay aware of when this happens so we can reel each other back in.
So true. Infertility taught me a lot about communicating in many different ways in my life.