Eilidh
Skin-to-skin
These layered hearts represent mine and my daughter’s hearts. There are 42 yellow stitches for the number of days spent in NICU. The white stitches shows the connection between us.
Leaving
The mesh in this piece speaks to the pain of leaving my daughter every night. The blue heart shows the love and care given by the nurses when I had to leave her.
You come from...
Emergency c-section
Love and hope
Fear and worry
Monitors beeping
Wires and tubes
Feeling helpless
Pandemic masks
Kangaroo cuddles
Bonding squares
Incubator nests
Anxious waits
Nurses’ loving care
Alarms sounding
Endless days and sleepless nights
Swaddle baths
Growth charts
Fierce determination
Lateral flow tests
Rollercoaster highs and crashing lows
3am caffeine
Unknown bravery
Watching and waiting
Breast pumps whirring
Drs’ dedication
Facetime with family
Clanging bins
Too big clothes
Blood tests and transfusions
Moments to pause
Skin-to-skin
Tears cried
Phones ringing
Plastic chairs
Bradycardia and apnoea
Unseen fces
Tube feeding
Washing hands
Teeny tiny nappies
Fighting spirit and inspiring strength
Fear and worry
Love and hope
Click on image to view video. Soundscape by Eilidh. Video contains sounds of NICU.
Wires
A tiny soft body inside an incubator surrounded by wires and tubes.
Masks
Being in NICU during the pandemic meant that we couldn’t see peoples’ faces. Eventually a nurse told me to take of my mask so my daughter could see my face.
‘You Come From’ video by Eilidh: ‘Ed Sheeran – Perfect (piano instrumental cover)’ by Benny Martin Piano (https://soundcloud.com/bennymartinpianist/ed-sheeran-perfect-piano-instrumental-cover) licenced under CC BY 3.0; NICU sounds by Eilidh