Lesson 12: Finding Your Pace in the Holiday Season
The holidays arrive each year with their familiar rhythm—twinkling lights, cheerful music, endless to-do lists. But when your family is navigating the NICU, supporting a young adult through a mental health crisis, or simply recovering from a year that asked more of you than you thought you could give, this season can feel overwhelming rather than magical.
This year, I invite you to consider a different approach: one that honors where you are right now, not where you think you should be.
Lesson 11: Grief-What No One Tells You About Life After the NICU
Life after NICU discharge brings unexpected challenges. NICU parents often experience PTSD after bringing baby home, miss the nurses who became family, and struggle with the silence after months of monitors. Learn what to expect during NICU graduation and how to cope with the post-NICU transition.
Lesson 10 Grief: Change Is the Only Constant
Excerpt from Grief: Change is the Only Constant
When I started Prepare To Bloom, I thrived on adaptability—tweaking services, shifting directions, staying nimble to meet families where they were. But then came my daughter Charli, a medically complex toddler who turned my love of change into a full-time lifestyle.
Therapy cancellations, provider pivots, nanny gaps, and unconfirmed appointments are now regular plot twists. And through it all, I’ve watched Charli learn flexibility by living it. She sees us adjust and mirrors that resilience.
Grief shows up in these moments—not always loud, but persistent. We grieve the day that unraveled, the plan that didn’t pan out, the support we thought would last. But alongside that grief lives growth.
The magic is in learning to bend—creating routines with wiggle room, building backup plans, and celebrating both the loss and the gain. Whether you’re parenting through the unknown or professionally guiding others, this truth holds: Change isn’t the enemy. Rigidity is.
Let’s learn to flex, together.