Parent Blog: Ashley Morarend

In their own words

Ashley Morarend
Guttenberg, Iowa

Our son, Easton, was born at 31 weeks and 3 days’ gestation, and spent 64 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

My husband and I live two-and-a-half hours from Iowa City, but luckily I was able to stay with my parents in Cedar Rapids during our son’s stay in the NICU. I came down every day to spend the day with him, my parents came down twice a week in the evening, and my husband would visit on the weekends. 

Every time we came to see him the nurses did an amazing job of filling us in on what happened while we were away. I tried to get to my son’s room before rounds every morning, but if I missed them the nurse practitioner made sure she stopped in later to fill me in on what was discussed. We always felt like our son was in good hands!

Everyone who works at the hospital is very welcoming and helpful. The hospital became my second home during those 64 days and I always felt comfortable and at home being there.