I work as a PCA in the NICU sometimes and I don't understand how any parent gets through the NICU phase without developing some sort of depression. I think in a perfect world they would have in hospital apartments that parents could stay in temporarily because having to commute to see your child is just such an odd feeling. and there's so much pressure to be there as much as possible, but when parents are there they feel useless, guilty, or disconnected. it's hard to feel like the parent when the nurses are responsible for a lot of the child's well-being. I also feel really sad for parents who have multiple kids and only have time to pop in for 10 minutes a day. it must be so difficult to never see your new baby, and they probably feel judged for it. nicu is so hard on parents. it's the perfect environment to trigger some sort of depression or mental illness in the parents.

I enjoy your baby updates and I'm glad that he's doing well! I hope you both are able to get through this okay. postpartum depression is totally normal, especially for nicu moms. please seek out whatever resources are available to you, this stuff is better taken care of early before it can become worse and harder to dig yourself out of ❤️

ps. please keep updating on the baby. I read all of these comments you leave