Lessons I Learned on the Red Carpet at the Oscars
Nine years ago my ago my husband called me at work and asked me if I wanted to go to the Oscars. After back and forth dialogue on how that was even remotely possible, I learned that he had put our names in the lottery and our names had been drawn!!
We were heading to Hollywood!!!
So there we were at the red carpet, but it wasn’t exactly as I expected it to be. We had to arrive at 7:30 a.m. (YEP, I know what you are thinking...the red carpet live show typically doesn’t start until late afternoon). After passing through security we were escorted to our bleacher seats where we sat for 10 hours until 6 p.m.
Having previously watched the live red carpet shows on TV, I saw glamour, organization and perfection, but let me share what we experienced that day.
With rain in the forecast, there was a clear plastic tarp that covered the bleacher seats and the red carpet as a precaution. It did not rain but we had to dress for the early morning cool temps so by midday the heat from the sun was roasting us. I was still thankful to be there but it was certainly not what I expected as we were confined to a small bleacher area where we had very little room to move around, ate a box lunch and had a LONG wait before the movie stars arrived.
The experience reminded me exactly of the hidden things as part of being a NICU mom that nobody sees unless you are there and experiencing it. I will be forever grateful for the resource and source of life that the NICU was, and also it was not what I expected in the slightest.
My very first experience in the NICU was being there for my first born son. I had been put on bedrest for 3 weeks and had planned to visit the NICU the following day. I never got that opportunity to see the NICU until I delivered a very fragile 22 ½ week gestation 1 lb. 3 oz baby boy.
When I was finally able to visit the NICU it was completely different than I ever could have imagined. Nothing prepared me to see my own son fighting for his life with so many tubes, wires and monitors.
Very early on we were asked to make countless life-changing decisions on the fly, we had very little privacy to grieve having a child born too soon and had to quickly adapt to the hospital protocol. Since we graduated from the NICU and raised our boys (they're 15 and 17 years old now!) I find that there's always challenges behind the scenes as a NICU parent.
If you’re a NICU parent, what's been the most unexpected part for you behind the scenes? Comment below and let me know.
If you’re just starting your journey in the NICU or if you’re a preemie mom who has an older child this journey is not easy-- but you’re not alone. I’d love to provide a listening ear and strategies for thriving exactly where you’re at.
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