Our daughter, Emma, was born at 25 weeks so about 3 and half months early. It was one of the scariest days for my husband and I. We had no idea how much our lives would be turned upside down. Doctors estimated that our daughter would be in hospital for 4 months. It was devastating. Our minds were racing. What were we going to do? We live an hour away, and we have a 2 year old son. How would we manage this?
After staying at McMaster in the NICU parent rooms, we were informed that we were eligible to stay at the House. We were unsure how we felt about it at first. We had heard about RMHC, but didn’t know much about it. We just knew that we wouldn’t have to travel back and forth. I don’t remember much about our first night there although I do remember the staff being so kind and welcoming.
After staying at RMHC for the first week we became amazed at what they do for families. As we were learning how to navigate hospital life and trying to cope with the challenges our daughter was facing, RMHC took care of everything else. The staff does an amazing job providing families with comfort and normalcy. It was very difficult not having our son with us during the first couple weeks but with the help of our family, we were able to find balance and have Jack stay with us a few nights a week.
Jack absolutely loved it there. The staff always took time out of their day to play with Jack. He was always so excited to show everyone his monster trucks, loved finding Bobby Bear, and playing in the playroom. We will forever be thankful for the staff making it a fun experience for Jack. Watching the staff talk to and play with Jack was a good distraction for us.
The Family Rooms at McMaster also became a place of comfort for us. To be able to go somewhere just to get away from all the bells and alarms of the NICU (even for just a few minutes) was something we were so grateful for. We also met many other parents in the Family Rooms who were going through the same thing.
RMHC will always hold a special place in our hearts. We are forever grateful for everything they did for my family while our daughter was in hospital. It was almost bittersweet leaving because you get so used to seeing the same friendly faces every day and giving staff updates about our daughter. We are so happy to donate to RMHC knowing that it will help families like ours.
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