Sydney sat in the wheelchair beside the incubators watching her daughters. “It’s hard not being able to hold them. It’s hard to feel like they’re really mine. I was so connected to them when I was carrying them inside and now I—I feel so…empty.”
“That’s a perfectly normal feeling for mothers with preemies,” Dr. Gleason said. “Tomorrow, we’ll go over the steps you can take to overcome that separation, which will not only help you but will establish a bonding between you and the girls. That bonding has another purpose, as well, in that it’ll help their brains develop.”
“Okay. Right now, the only thing I have to remind me I’m a mother is a couple of really sore, milk-engorged breasts.”
Dr. Gleason laughed. “When you get back to your room, the nurse will help you expel your milk. It’s the b
