11/30/2025
I dreamed of the NICU long before I understood its weight—
before the beeps became a language,
before hope sounded like the rise and fall of a preemie’s breath.
I thought I’d enter the NICU only as a physician.
I never imagined I’d enter as a mother—
with shaking hands, a racing heart, and prayers tucked between every monitor sound.
No textbook prepared me for the silence of a mother’s tears,
the ache of leaving your baby behind glass,
or how gratitude and grief walk side by side.
The NICU taught me two languages—
the medical one I trained for and the emotional one I lived.
And when we finally came home, I learned the NICU comes with you— in the way you listen to every breath
and hold your baby with both relief and remembering.
I stand on both sides now:
NICU pediatrician and NICU mom,
clinician and survivor—
forever changed by what those walls taught me.
And because of that, I made a promise:
to help reshape the NICU experience—
through better communication, less bias,
and deeper compassion for families living in the space between hope and heartbreak.
This is my story.
This is my offering.
For every parent sitting under fluorescent lights, holding courage hour by hour—
you are seen,
you are loved,
you are not alone.💚
“When the NICU Becomes Your Story”
By Jess Daigle, MD
