My oldest was a preemie, born at 31 weeks, and the 27 days our little family spent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) were some of the most important and formative of my life. I know that a number of the other dads and moms that hang out here have had experiences in the NICU, and since we've recently put out a video on the subject, I'd love to hear some of your NICU coping strategies.

What was the NICU experience like for you? What advice would you give others facing a stint there?

I recently heard a statistic from our friends at Hand to Hold, a parents of preemies support organization that something on the order of 80% of NICU parents report symptoms consistent with PTSD.

So lets talk about being the parents of preemies and how that has impacted us.

So here's the abridged version of the story. My wife had severe preeclampsia and our son was born 5 weeks early weighing only 4lbs 10oz. He only spent about a week in the NICU though. Due to the pre-e and emergency c-section my wife wasn't discharged until the day before our son was. Despite all that I do think we were very fortunate for how well he did and how soon he got to come home.

I think the best thing about the NICU was that we knew that he was being well cared for. The nurses at our hospital were great. All the tips we got and watching them for a week gave us a lot of confidence when we got home. So listen, watch and learn. Ask questions too.

Also, I feel weird or guilty, I guess, referring to him as a preemie. I know that there are a lot of kids who were earlier and worse off. When I talk to other NICU parents it kinda seems like I get the "well our kid was worse off than yours" vibe. Like it's a friggin contest? I wonder if other NICU parents feel this way.

About the PTSD thing, As a result of all that my wife had post partum depression. It's definitely a traumatic experience for everyone involved.