Jordyn's Promise LLC

10/02/2026

We are honored to have recieved 10 books from Born Abel! These books will be added to our NICU library program!! Stay tuned as we will be having further announcements about this coming up. Thank you again your donation makes this possible!

If you are interested in donating a link to our website and book wishlist is in the comments 🥰

09/30/2026

You may have noticed that we did not post an update yesterday. Well, we have some exciting news! Our Executive Director finished his walk yesterday and even went over his goal!

Here was the goal:
377,204 steps

Here's the Stats!
379,202 steps
178.47 miles

Thank you to everyone who took a walk. Thank you to everyone who honored a NICU baby or family. Thank you to every hospital employee who makes families feel safe and supported within their walls. 💜🥹

We would love to see you little ones share their story, a picture, or a milestone they recently reached. Help us honor them 😊

09/30/2026

We are happy to include MIDP resources in every care package going to every family who live in the areas they serve!

Some parents learned a whole new vocabulary before their baby ever came home. Sats. Brady. Kangaroo care. Grams instead of pounds.

If that's you, happy NICU Awareness Day. You learned the monitors, the feeding schedules, and the names of every nurse on the night shift. That counts for a lot.

A few things worth knowing once you're home:
💛 Babies born early usually go by their adjusted age for milestones, so compare your baby to where they'd be if they arrived on their due date.
💛 Tiny wins are real wins. A first steady feed, a look toward your voice, a new little sound.
💛 You don't need to wait and see. Parents can refer their own child to early intervention. No doctor's note required.

09/29/2026

Day 29 NICU Awareness

NICU Siblings

When Jordyn was born, our son was just 10 months old. He was too young to understand why there was only ever one parent home at a time. He didn’t understand why Papa and Dad kept leaving. He didn’t understand that we felt like we were choosing between our children every single day.

He went from being home with his parents every day to being shuffled between grandparents so Papa and Dad could spend time at the hospital with his baby sister. He didn’t understand why his family suddenly looked so different.

I remember his first birthday.

It happened right in the middle of Jordyn’s NICU stay.

I was there when he woke up that morning. I got to spend about an hour with him before rushing back to the hospital for rounds. Then, as soon as I could, I rushed back home to decorate and get everything ready for his birthday.

There was no huge celebration.
There couldn’t be.

With Jordyn still in the NICU, we had to be incredibly careful about who was around him and what germs could potentially make their way back to the hospital.

So his first birthday was just 12 people.
Us and family.

And you know what? It was an amazing day. We made it special. We celebrated him.

We made sure that even in the middle of one of the hardest seasons of our lives, our little boy knew how loved he was.

But I still remember the rushing. The guilt. The feeling that I was constantly being pulled in two directions. Because while our daughter was fighting to come home, our son was growing up too.

He didn’t understand why his parents couldn’t just be there. He didn’t understand why his life had changed. He didn’t understand why he went from being home every day with Papa and Dad to spending so much time with grandparents.

And he certainly didn’t understand that when Jordyn finally came home, his life still wouldn’t immediately return to normal. We couldn’t risk Jordyn getting sick. So our son put his life on hold too. He didn’t choose the NICU. He didn’t understand the NICU. But he lived through it just the same.

When we talk about NICU families, we have to remember the siblings.
The little ones who wait.
The little ones who miss their parents.
The little ones whose routines change.
The little ones who make sacrifices they are far too young to understand.

Our son may not remember his first birthday.
But Papa and Dad will never forget it.
We will never forget how hard we worked to make sure he still felt celebrated while our family was living through the NICU.

Because he was part of this story too.

NICU siblings deserve to be seen, remembered, and celebrated. ❤️

09/28/2026

Day 28 of NICU Awareness Month

The nurses become your support system.

When you spend days, weeks, or even months in the NICU, the nurses become so much more than the people caring for your baby.

They become the familiar face you look for when you walk through the doors. The person who can tell something is different before you even ask. The person who explains the monitors, the numbers, the alarms, the procedures, and all the medical terminology that suddenly becomes part of your everyday life.

They answer the same questions when you need reassurance. They celebrate the smallest victories with you. They sit with you through the scary moments. They encourage you when you are exhausted and remind you that you are still your baby’s parent, even when it feels like the machines and medical team are doing everything for them.

Sometimes they are the first person you tell when your baby opened their eyes. The first person you celebrate with when a tube comes out. And sometimes they are the person who simply sits beside you when you don’t know what else to do.

Over time, you learn their names, their voices, their personalities and their routines. They become part of your baby’s story and, in many ways, part of your family’s story too.

When you finally leave the NICU, you don’t just leave behind a hospital room.

You leave behind people who helped carry you through one of the hardest chapters of your life.

Is there a NICU nurse who changed your life? We are honored to hear your story and nominate them for NICU Nurse of the year 2026. Even neonatologists or nurses can nominate a Nurse. A link for nominations are in the comments 💜

09/27/2026

Day 27 💜

Leaving the NICU when you have other children at home.

When Jordyn was born, our eldest was just 10 months old.

We constantly felt like we were choosing between the two. When we were at the hospital with Jordyn, we missed him. We wondered what we were missing at home. His smiles, his new milestones, his little moments that we could never get back. When we were home with him, we missed Jordyn. We wondered what was happening in her room. Was she okay? Did she need us? Were we missing something important?

Every time we were with one, it felt like we were missing something with the other.It felt impossible.

We were trying to be present for a baby fighting to come home while also trying to be present for the baby who was already home and still needed his parents.

There was guilt everywhere.
Guilt for leaving Jordyn.
Guilt for leaving her brother.
Guilt for not being able to split ourselves into two people. The hardest part was knowing that neither child understood why we couldn’t always be there.

NICU families with children at home are carrying an entirely different kind of weight. They are trying to love and care for the baby in the hospital while still parenting the children waiting at home.

If you are a NICU parent who has another child at home, please know this: You were not choosing one child over the other. You were doing the impossible, trying to be there for both. You were/are doing the best you could with a situation no parent should ever have to face. 💜

09/26/2026

NICU Awareness Day 26

The Specialists 💜

For many NICU families, leaving the NICU doesn’t mean leaving the medical world behind.

Sometimes, the NICU is only the beginning of a long list of appointments, evaluations, and specialists who become part of your child’s journey.

There may be ophthalmologists watching their vision and development. Neurologists monitoring the brain, seizures, tone, or development. Cardiologists following heart conditions or concerns. Endocrinologists monitoring hormones, growth, or other complications.
Pulmonologists helping with chronic lung disease, oxygen needs, or breathing concerns.

And there can be so many others: gastroenterologists, orthopedists, urologists, developmental specialists, audiologists, therapists, and more.

Each appointment can come with another test, another question, another set of results to wait for.

For some families, these specialists become familiar faces over months or even years. They become part of the team helping their child grow, develop, and overcome the challenges that began before they ever got to go home. While we celebrate the day a NICU baby finally leaves the hospital, it’s important to remember that discharge doesn’t always mean the medical journey is over. Sometimes, it simply means the next chapter begins.

Today, we recognize the specialists who continue caring for NICU graduates long after they leave those hospital doors. To every NICU family navigating specialist appointments, referrals, testing, and follow-ups you are not alone.

If you are interested in donating to our mission a link to our website and library wishlist is in the comments 💜

09/25/2026

Day 25 NICU Awareness 💜

Not every NICU journey begins in the NICU.

Some families leave the hospital with their newborn in their arms. They made it through delivery. Their baby was checked over. They were told they could go home.

They packed the diaper bag, buckled their baby into the car seat and walked out of the hospital believing their NICU story was never going to be theirs.

Until something changed.

Maybe their baby stopped eating. Maybe they became lethargic. Maybe they developed a fever, struggled to breathe, developed seizures, their temperature dropped, or became dangerously jaundiced or simply wasn’t acting like themselves.

So they did what parents do. They called the doctor. They went to the emergency room. They waited for answers.

And suddenly, they’re hearing words they never expected to hear: “Your baby needs to be admitted to the NICU.”

The fear is different when you thought you had already made it safely home. You weren’t prepared for the monitors. You weren’t prepared for the alarms. You weren’t prepared to watch your newborn surrounded by wires and medical equipment.

You weren’t prepared to become a NICU parent days after you thought your baby had already been cleared to go home.

And there can be so many questions.
How did this happen?
Didn’t we just leave the hospital?
Was there something we missed?
Is my baby going to be okay?

To the families whose babies became sick after leaving the hospital and found themselves unexpectedly walking through the doors of the NICU.

Your story matters, too. You don’t have to have been pregnant with complications. You don’t have to have delivered prematurely. You don’t have to have known the NICU was coming.

Sometimes, the NICU finds you after you thought you were already safely home. And suddenly, you’re living a chapter of parenthood you never imagined.

Today, we see you.

The NICU doesn’t always begin at birth. Sometimes, it begins after you thought you had already made it home. 💜

09/24/2026

NICU Awareness Month Day 24

Early Intervention

Leaving the NICU doesn’t mean the journey is over.

For many NICU families, the next chapter includes developmental screenings, specialists, therapy appointments and, often, Early Intervention.

Early Intervention provides support to young children who have developmental delays or disabilities, as well as support for their families. Depending on a child’s needs, services can include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, developmental therapy, feeding support and more.

For NICU parents, Early Intervention can sometimes feel intimidating.

You may wonder:
Is my child really delayed?
Are we doing something wrong?
What will people think?
Will my child always need therapy?
But therapy isn’t a label.
It is a tool.

Early Intervention gives children opportunities to build skills while their brains and bodies are developing. It also gives parents someone to turn to when they have questions, concerns or simply need someone who understands their child’s unique needs. Here's something every NICU parent should hear:

You do not have to wait until you’re certain something is wrong to ask for help.

If you have concerns about your child’s development, talk to their pediatrician or reach out to your state’s Early Intervention program. Asking for an evaluation doesn’t mean your child will automatically qualify for services. It simply means you’re taking another step toward understanding what your child needs. Some children will graduate from therapy. Some will need support for years. Some will need lifelong accommodations. There is no single path.

The goal isn’t to make every NICU graduate develop exactly like everyone else.

The goal is to give every child the support, tools and opportunities they need to reach their own potential. Because sometimes the most important milestone isn’t the one your child reaches.

It’s the moment you realize you don’t have to navigate the journey alone. 💜

The video is from occupational therapist we saw in the NICU. ❤️❤️

09/23/2026

Day 23 NICU Awareness Month 💜

Somewhere along the way, the NICU starts to feel like a second home.

Not because you ever wanted it to. Not because you ever imagined spending your days there. But because you spend so much time there that the unfamiliar slowly becomes familiar.

You learn which entrance is closest to your baby’s room. You know the elevators, the hallways and the waiting areas. You recognize the sounds of the monitors before you even look up. You know which nurses are working that day. You know where to get coffee. You know the routines. You know the doctors. You know the terminology you never knew existed before your baby was born.bYou have a chair beside your baby’s bed that somehow becomes your chair. You have a routine. You have a place.

And somewhere in the middle of all the fear, the uncertainty and the sleepless nights, the NICU becomes part of your everyday life. You can walk into that room and know exactly where everything is. You know how to touch your baby without disturbing the wires. You know when they’re sleeping peacefully and when something isn’t quite right. You know which alarms require attention and which ones don’t.

You learn how to be a parent in a place where you never expected to have to learn how to parent. And then one day, it’s time to leave. The place that became your second home is suddenly a place you no longer belong.

You walk out carrying your baby, but a part of you stays behind.

Because the NICU wasn’t just a hospital room.

It was where you met your child. Where you learned their strength. Where you celebrated tiny victories. Where you cried when things didn’t go as planned. Where strangers became family. Where you learned to hope.

And even years later, you can still remember exactly what it felt like to walk through those doors. Somewhere along the way, the NICU became home. And leaving it was one of the hardest things we ever had to do.

If you are interested in donating to our cause a link to our website and NICU library list is in the comments 💜