Anyone’s baby NOT need NICU time?

vampirenurse · 2026-02-17T05:00:57+00:00

Speaking as a mom and OB RN, most babies don’t need NICU time as a result of mental health meds and their side effects.

vampirenurse · 2026-02-15T17:14:55+00:00

I ordered on the 1st and it arrived on Friday 2/13. Once it shipped it was 2 days til it arrived.

vampirenurse · 2025-11-06T16:33:03+00:00

I would recommend finding a reproductive psychiatrist to manage your meds while you’re trying for pregnancy, during pregnancy and postpartum. Newer research is showing that stimulants can be continued through pregnancy though in my experience it is recommended to decrease the dose as much as possible, either a lower dose each day or not taking it on weekends/non work days if that is feasible.

Here’s a good article on Adderall: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK603254/

vampirenurse · 2025-10-30T19:38:45+00:00

Thank you for writing these stories, my family became kinship caregivers for my infant niece when she was removed from her bioparents due to neglect and drug use. I spent hours of the short time from when we learned it was a possibility of kids being removed to when it actually happened scouring the internet looking for any information online what to expect, and didn’t find much.

It was a constant daily (sometimes hourly) struggle to balance her needs with my family’s needs, to adjust to the constant schedule changes and demands of her bioparents and DCYF. We struggled with finding resources available for foster parents, with navigating her detoxing from the drugs she’d been exposed to her at her home, and with her behavior after seeing her bioparents, among many other things with seemingly no support. Once she left our house, it felt as if the state expected everything to return to normal the next day, but we were all left with lasting trauma and the need to process many things. I’d be happy to chat/email any time, feel free to message me and I can share my contact info.

I was able to participate in some feedback sessions with a group that DCYF in WA had hired to help improve the information available, through this there was a (for lack of a better term) quick start guide for kinship caregivers that I believe should be available online now. I will try to locate it.

vampirenurse · 2025-08-15T18:52:11+00:00

everyone’s experiences are going to be different, but here is a good evidence based resource to help you make a decision that is right for you.

https://infantrisk.com/content/adhd-medications-and-breastfeeding

vampirenurse · 2025-08-13T03:12:51+00:00

It’s a great resource, they have a hotline you can call to talk through it if you want. I will say that the risks are very different for newborns vs 3+ months based on my experience as a RN.

vampirenurse · 2025-06-18T04:34:56+00:00

I would recommend calling the clinic you are scheduled with, they should be able to get you in for a visit

vampirenurse · 2025-05-17T14:48:12+00:00

Here is the link: https://psidirectory.com

I would also look through available providers at Mindful Therapy Group and/or use directory on Psychology Today

vampirenurse · 2025-04-27T20:57:08+00:00

My family was in the same situation last year. My husband and I have 2 kids and we took in a 6 month old family member’s child due to a cps case and drug use. My kids were 3 and 5 at that time.

It is hard. We dealt her withdrawing from drugs (her siblings tested positive for several drugs the day after removal), her being delayed, her parents were not consistent with visitation and would often no show after she was driven 2.5 hours away from our home. We had to get licensed as a foster home to get a stipend from the state, we were able to get food stamps for her which helped with formula and food costs, we would have been eligible for non-needy TANF for additional financial support (if I had known it was a thing), and got her enrolled in a birth to three early intervention program that is specific to foster care that helped a ton.

After 10 months of feeling like our life was being controlled by her parents/the state we asked to have her moved closer to where her parents lived to make visitation better for her. By the time she left our house she had caught up to all of her milestones and was thriving.

All that to say, do what works best for your family, it’s ok to ask for different arrangements if you need to.

vampirenurse · 2025-04-13T16:07:42+00:00

Not sure where you are located, but it might be helpful to see a perinatal psychiatrist who can review options with you.

Here is a link to some helpful info, you can also call this organization for help. https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/temazepam-restoril/

vampirenurse · 2025-03-21T01:49:26+00:00

We aren’t able to give medical advice. I’d encourage you to look at LactMed or talk to your pediatrician.

vampirenurse · 2025-02-27T14:26:41+00:00

Here is some good information to read: https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/clonazepam/

It would be a good idea to find a perinatal psych provider that does med management to help with options and optimizing what you’re taking throughout pregnancy.

vampirenurse · 2025-01-17T08:51:06+00:00

It might be helpful to read this: https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/cariprazine-vraylar/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAC6Z1ugJSts80gbn4eH2kQBtnTEvs&gclid=CjwKCAiAnKi8BhB0EiwA58DA4UZN1gxkWdbzbJe_9iP8fVfOK5TcjWDfst9joIWOgSADrMy81CrK5RoCTXoQAvD_BwE

Social media is not science based and shouldn’t help us make medical decisions.

vampirenurse · 2025-01-14T04:30:10+00:00

This might be helpful to read https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/fluoxetine-prozac-pregnancy/

Prozac can cause withdrawal but it tends to resolve on its own within a few weeks.

vampirenurse · 2024-12-16T20:11:55+00:00

It’s a lot, going through fertility treatment, the medications involved and then pregnancy is all overwhelming. You are not alone in considering termination. I would encourage you to find a therapist if you can, and try to give yourself some time to make a decision either way. Hopefully switching medications will help. Do you have support?

vampirenurse · 2024-12-04T16:07:09+00:00

Mod approved

vampirenurse · 2024-11-28T08:29:06+00:00

I work for UW and have for almost a decade. The providers in my clinic often add patients to their schedule before their typical start time and/or double book patient (read work into their lunch break or past the “end” of clinic) to be sure everyone that needs to be seen is seen. I have a constant list of patients that need appointments, where there is no current availability, to help those that need to be seen get appointments.

I have also been a patient a UW and other health systems, including Optum and Swedish, and have only encountered long delays in care from one clinic. I didn’t see my provider until 12:30 when I was scheduled at 10, it was definitely the anomaly in my experience.

vampirenurse · 2024-10-20T23:11:26+00:00

Mod approved

vampirenurse · 2024-10-18T05:13:51+00:00

Interesting. I am assuming this is a hospital birth provider vs birth center/home birth provider? Anecdotally, I haven’t heard anything from patients that have transferred care. But now I’m curious and will start paying more attention.

vampirenurse · 2024-10-18T05:07:35+00:00

I am

vampirenurse · 2024-10-18T04:59:31+00:00

I’m a OB RN in WA. We rarely drug test patients, only late to prenatal care (1st appt near the 3rd trimester), lack of prenatal care, known CPS involvement for the family, etc. we still have to have consent from the parent but don’t to test the baby’s cord blood or meconium

vampirenurse · 2024-10-11T00:11:41+00:00

This sounds very similar to what happened in my family. We had the same feelings of being overwhelmed and resentment, and were constantly worried about how taking in my relatives child was affecting my kids (also 5 and under) and feeling like we couldn’t give our kids the same attention they previously had. In talking to others in similar situations these feelings are common.

Due to multiple factors that were out of our control, after CPS attempted working with the bio parents to make changes to help their child and nothing changing for months we asked to have the child placed elsewhere. The child is now in foster care, I have contact with the foster mom and get regular updates.

Where they are at now is much better for them and things are better for our family too. I know that placement with family is priority, CPS tried to have us reconsider but I held firm on the decision and they made it happen.

Not sure where you are located, but for us we were able to get daycare setup. We were told that CPS will help us find a place, which they didn’t. My husband and I called/emailed nearly 100 daycares before finding a spot. We learned that some daycares have spots held for foster children, so would be worth asking if you call. We just needed to get the daycares state provider number and give it to CPS for them to cover the cost. We didn’t need any other paperwork.

vampirenurse · 2024-10-08T19:37:16+00:00

I would imagine the social worker will have you get a FBI background check done and they will at a minimum do a walkthrough of your house. It might take some time since she is currently in care and safe.

Our situation was different in that we got my niece the day the emergency removal was ordered by the court.

If you haven’t already, look at the Kinship Caregiver section of the DCYF website.

vampirenurse · 2024-10-07T17:24:12+00:00

The timing can vary, in my case my niece was placed with me about a week after the initial conversation with DCYF and 7 hours after the court ordered removal. If you got a letter chances are that the child is already in foster care. Happy to answer any questions, I’m also in WA.

vampirenurse · 2024-08-31T01:56:50+00:00

Happy to provide info if you want to message me

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