You know you are a parent of a preemie when.....

(I found this on another site and thought I would share it because we can relate to so many of these.)

1.) You use strange initals (C-PAP, CCs, NICU, NG, etc.) when discussing your child's history.
--We experienced this when Daniel swallowed the dime. We were going over Daniel's medical history with the ER doctor and he stopped and said I can tell when I am dealing with a parent of a preemie because of the terms they use.
2.) You actually remember how many CCs make up an ounce.
--30 ccs equals one ounce
3.) You count his/her weight in grams.
--We don't do this but we can tell you that Daniel weighed 907 grams (2 pounds) when he was born.
4.) The skin on your hands is peeling from washing so often.
--We use really good soap and lotion so we do not have this problem.
5.) You hesitate when someone asks his/her age, but you know how much he/she weighs.
--We do hesitate at times but not because we don't know but because we know what kind of questions will follow.
6.) The answer to "How old is your baby?" is 30 minutes long.
--This is very true, once you tell the age you have to go thru all the other questions that follows.
7.) When someone asks his birthday, you reply "which one"?
--I don't know that this has ever happened to us but we have wondered it.
8.) You start to understand some of the things thay say on ER.
--We don't watch ER.
9.) You turn into Kung-Fu Mom when someone tries to touch your baby.
--It depends on who the someone is.
10.) You attempt to measure just how much spit-up he/she just had before you clean it up.
--We use to do this but Daniel doesn't spit up any more.
11.) You know how much he/she weighs before putting him/her on the scale at the doctor's office.
--We have our guesses.
12.) You cry at "Maternity Ward" and get mad at "Baby Story".
--I wouldn't say I get mad but a little jealous.
13.) You see a term newborn and say "Wow! She's so BIG!"
14.) Your baby is months old before he can go to the mall.
--I remember the first time we took Daniel to the mall. He was 5 months old and we kept the canopy on the car seat and the canopy on the stroller up the whole time.
15.) You have ever explained why your baby is on an apnea monitor.
16.) When someone says how tiny your baby is, you argue that he is humge and to demonstrate you whip out pictures of him from the NICU.
17.) You do a health check on people when they come to your house to visit.
--We don't do a health check but we do let people know that if they are sick they won't be allowed in and we won't be visiting until they are well.
18.) You make people wash their hands before going near your child.
--We don't enforce strict hand washing anymore.
19.) You want to scream when someone says that she just wants to have this baby now - at week 29, 32, or 34.
--This makes me mad. I would love to know what it is like to be 34 weeks pregnant.
20.) You are so amazed when someone actually tells you that your baby is big for his age.
--This has never happened to us. Daniel is 14 months old and the size of a 6 month old.
21.) You tried to find a place to buy newborn size diapers in bulk.
22.) You called half your relatives when your baby grew out of their first pair of pajamas.
--I do think we called half our relatives when Daniel outgrew 0-3 month clothes.
23.) You never take your child for granted.
--This is a lesson I learned after loosing Noah.
24.) You worry about RSV season and it is still weeks away.
--Daniel is on the list for Synagis shots.
25.) You know what "RSV" stands for.
--respiratory syncytial virus
26.) You donate his/her tiny clothes to the NICU and marvel that they seem so small, when they were to large at one point in time.
27.) Your son/daughter gets a simple cold and his/her doctor sees her within the hour.
28.) People say "He can't be ___ old..he's too little!".
--This happens to us all the time.
29.) It has taken them 5 months to grow into newborn clothes.
--It took Daniel about 6 months to grow into newborn clothes, he is now 14 months old and wears 3-6 months clothes.
30.) You pick up 2 pounds of ground beef and think that your baby was born at the same weight.
--I have thought this before.
31.) You buy Purell in bulk.
--We are never without hand sanitizer.
32.) You can stare at your baby for hours when he sleeps.
--I think all parents can do this.