Jennifer and the Gift of Babywearing
Tuesday, 6/21/2016
As a donor mom, Jennifer donates breastmilk to Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas in honor of her sons, Zachary and Elijah, and in memory of her son Micah, who passed away at 11 months due to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). She is also a fierce advocate for those affected by NEC, as she is the founder of the NEC Society. Additionally, she writes for HuffPost Parents, and her articles are occasionally featured on the MMBNT blog. Below is an excerpt from her article about babywearing and the positive experience it created in the NICU with her twins.
My twins’ premature birth rocked my world. Micah and Zachary were born at 27 weeks gestation, weighing only two and a half pounds each. As the twins fought to live, our family, friends, neighbors and colleagues surrounded us with love and support.
During the twins’ hospitalization, my husband Noah and I received beautiful, generous gifts, one of which changed our family’s life: the skill of babywearing.
Micah and Zachary were nearly three months into their hospitalization when my friend Becca asked if she could visit us in the NICU to show us how to wear our babies in a wrap. I hesitated. Zachary was stable, even though he was connected to lines and monitors, but Micah was struggling just to live after developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Micah was in renal failure, intubated, and recovering from a major abdominal operation.
I didn’t want to have to answer any of Becca’s questions. I didn’t want Becca to see Micah in such a terrible state of health. I didn’t want to have to explain that Micah might die.
Thankfully, I mustered up some courage and arranged for Becca to visit.
Becca walked into Zachary’s room, her arms overflowing with two wraps, a ring sling, gifts for the boys and food for us. Zachary was tethered to his monitors, snuggled with Noah in a chair. Becca stretched out a rainbow carrier and asked if she could wrap me up with Zachary.
Moments later she began her magic and Zachary was securely wrapped on my chest, just under my chin, leaving my hands free. I stood up, paying attention to Zachary’s cords and wires, and instantly fell in love with babywearing.
With Zachary wrapped on my chest, I reclaimed so much that had been taken away from me just by being in the NICU: the ability to be close to my babies, the ability to care for them, and the feeling of being a competent mother.
I asked Zachary’s nurse if we could walk across the hall to Micah’s room for a visit. Micah and Zachary had been separated since birth, each of them independently too sick to leave their room to visit the other. But now, Zachary was stable, and securely wrapped on my chest. The nurses had never seen one of their patients in a wrap, and inspected Zachary’s airway and lines before they agreed to allow me to carry Zachary into Micah’s room.
For the first time since giving birth, I made physical contact with my twins at the same time. Even though Micah was too sick to be held, I could reach my hands into his isolette and touch his soft skin, while Zachary slept on me. From that moment on, I knew I needed to perfect the art of wrapping my fragile infants so that I could be close to both of them. For months, we had been separated. Babywearing enabled us to reconnect, bond, and nurture one another.
To read Jennifer’s full article, click here.
To read more of Jennifer’s articles for HuffPost Parents, click here.
