Podcast Episode 1 – Empowering NICU Parents

Get To Know Your Host

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NICU Milestone Cards

Wondering who you’re listening to and why this podcast was created? Get a quick run-down of Nicole Nyberg’s upbringing, education, and what drove her to start this podcast.

Nicole knew from a young age that she wanted to take care of babies and become a nurse. After high school, she pursued her dream and went to Purdue University where she received her Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing.

Working as a nurse

Her first job as a RN after graduation was on an adult, intermediate care unit with post cardiac catheterization patients. After a year on the cardiac floor, due to some personal circumstances, she moved up to Chicago and started a job in a Cardiac Cath Lab. After close to a year, she moved onto Labor and Delivery with the goal to get some exposure to newborns. With limited exposure to newborns, she started a job in a Pediatric Clinic followed by an inpatient position on a Pediatrics Unit. There, she was able to cross-train to the step-down NICU and she had her first exposure to the NICU. It was exactly what she had been looking for all of those years!

Luckily, with the NICU step-down experience, it provided her with the experience necessary to apply and ultimately land a job in a level III NICU! She ultimately ended up working in the NICU as a nurse for 11 years – which was longer than all of the other areas of nursing combined.

At that point, her career was pretty much exactly where she wanted it, but she felt as though her personal life was lacking. Getting married and having children was always her dream. She had been looking for her husband since I was 22 years old and here, yet 10 years later, she was still single.

Onto Graduate School

To further her career, she took her passion for the NICU and decided to apply to graduate school to become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and was accepted at Rush University. After she decided to focus on furthering her education, it was then that she met her future husband. They were engaged within 8 months of meeting. In 2013, they bought a house, moved back to central Illinois where her husband and his 6 year old lived, graduated with a Master’s Degree, became a board certified Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, got married, and became a new step-mom in a matter of 4 months. Whew!

Starting Their Family

Since Josh and Nicole knew that they wanted children, they did not waste anytime to pursue their dream of building a family. They found out that she was pregnant in December of that same year. After a smooth first trimester, she developed multiple complications at just 13 weeks gestation.

She had bleeding, preterm contractions, and preterm labor that were persistent throughout the second trimester with several hospital admissions and ultimately bedrest.

Ironically, she had just started her new career as a NNP (Neonatal Nurse Practitioner) and was on orientation when she was placed on bedrest. It was an incredibly scary time for the couple.

The Delivery

Her final admission to the hospital for preterm labor and bleeding was at 23 2/7 weeks. Two days later, she was rushed back and placed under general anesthesia for an emergent c-section due to a placental abruption presuming that when she woke up, they would tell her that their baby did not make it since they were at a level II facility.

BUT – instead they woke her up to inform her that they had a little boy and that he was doing okay.

William Russell Nyberg was born on April 28th, 2014 and weighed 1 lb. 6 oz.

Here, with all of her years as a NICU nurse and now a new NNP, she was propelled into a world that she thought she knew so well – but did she really?

She really only knew the singular side of the NICU – the care team side. As a nurse, she felt as though she had always bonded well with parents and was empathetic, but she really had NO idea…until now!

The experience of having a baby in the NICU and sitting there as a parent feeling beyond helpless, watching your tiny baby wince in pain and struggle is something that absolutely NO ONE can understand unless you’ve been through it.

The Podcast

In future episodes, we will discuss many of the feelings and emotions that so many NICU parents endure mixed in with all things related to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit from basic topics, medical questions, common conditions and diagnoses.

Most importantly, our goal is educate and empower you as a NICU parent. We want you to know that you are NOT alone, the feelings you have are very normal, and that YOU are the most integral member of your baby’s care team!

Top Tips for NICU Parents

Nicole compiled her Top Tips to help every NICU parent become more equipped to care for your baby in the NICU. They include self-care tips to help you physically and mentally as you navigate through this very unfamiliar journey so your health is at its very best. Remember, you are part of your baby’s care team, the most important person if you ask us! The PDF will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need so YOU can take care of your baby! There are also tips to help with your unique financial situations. Click on the link to get to get your copy!

Top Tips for NICU Parents

We hope you enjoyed learning a little more about your host, Nicole Nyberg. We wanted to give you a little bit of her background so you know more about who you are listening to, plus some of her personal and professional experiences that brought her to the point where she so strongly felt the need to start this podcast. We have A LOT more to get into so be sure to subscribe so you do not miss an episode!

Remember, once empowered with knowledge, you have the ability to change the course.

Empowering NICU Parents Podcast

A podcast specifically meant to educate and empower NICU parents as they endure their baby’s NICU journey. We provide you with tangible tips and support from my unique perspective as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) and a proud preemie Mama! Along with sharing answers to the NICU medical questions you have, Nicole will address and support you through the incredibly difficult emotional struggles that only a NICU parent can understand. Tune in and subscribe today!

To start 2024 out, our first episode focuses on marijuana use, its impact on pregnancy, the growing fetus and the child’s future development, as well as the implications of its use during breastfeeding.

Who would have thought that in 2024, we would be living in a time where marijuana use is so prominent and that it would be legal in 24 states as of January of 2024?!?

But, nonetheless, here we are! Because marijuana has been legalized in so many states, there are now false evolving perceptions on its general safety as well as its implications on the developing fetus and infant who are exposed to it either in utero or through breastmilk. In general, the perception of harm from marijuana is decreasing while the potency of marijuana is scarily increasing. Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug during pregnancy in the United States. And, its use in gaining speed amongst all adult age groups, in both sexes, and in pregnant women.

For our 56th episode, I reviewed the most up-to-date literature and will share the findings from several studies that reveal both short and long-term negative effects on the pregnant mother and developing fetus if used during pregnancy, and its future implications on the growing infant, child, and their transition into the teenage years, and as an adult after prenatal exposure. I will also point out the general concentration of marijuana in breast milk if used by a nursing mother, as well as how long it stays in the breast milk, and how it may impact the exposed infant.

This episode is packed full of useful information and will be ideal for any healthcare worker or for family members and friends who care about a pregnant woman or nursing mother who is currently using marijuana and want to ensure that she is fully educated on the implications of its use on her growing fetus or infant. And last, but actually, the most important, I encourage ALL women who are either considering becoming pregnant or who are currently pregnant and use marijuana on a regular basis, to listen.

Although marijuana use is so prevelant, it is so crucial that we fully understand its potential impact on the fetus and the child’s future development if used during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.
You will not want to miss this one!

Dr. Brown’s Medical: https://www.drbrownsmedical.com

Our NICU Roadmap: A Comprehensive NICU Journal: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/nicujournal/

NICU Mama Hats: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/hats/

NICU Milestone Cards: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/nicuproducts/

Newborn Holiday Cards: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/shop/

Empowering NICU Parents Show Notes: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/shownotes/

Episode 56 Show Notes: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/episode56

Empowering NICU Parents Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweringnicuparents/

Empowering NICU Parents FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweringnicuparents

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