We try to prepare them for what they are going to see. Most of the time, they don't hear half of what you say - they're in overload. The parents of pre-term infants are often scared and shocked. He looked almost transparent. The parents' world is consumed with medical charts, feeding tubes and monitors.
Parents are afraid of the unknown and many times frightened by all the machinery.
Many times you have to step back and not give them too much information. You've got to trust the doctors. When Little Gene was born, he had to be resuscitated in the delivery room. I couldn't watch. After just a few days Little Gene began to stabilize.