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Topics of Discussion |
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wisdom from the Preemie-l e-mail group http://www.preemie-l.org |
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Tracy remarks, "When my daughter was in the NICU there where two other mother’s that I got to know very well. We all
felt like you did. I couldn’t bring my self to go near a store, let alone a baby store. I couldn’t imagine buying anything and washing
and putting it in the dresser. I am not a superstitious person, but that is kinda how it felt. If I prepared, then it wouldn’t happen. My
husband on the other hand bought the crib, clothes, X-mas gifts, the birth announcements, baby books, etc. My husband did send out some really cute "preemie" birth announcements. The said something like "Hi, my name is Mackenzie, I was born 11/10/98 at 2.5lbs. I couldn’t wait to join this world, so I decided to come a little early. My Mommy is fine and resting at home, but I decided to stay here in the hospital with all my other early friends. I’ll probably be here until late January." That turned out to be a great way to make an announcement without having to call everyone and go through the gory details." Laura recalls, "We did a similar announcement when Grace was born — we announced her arrival and said that her "home" for awhile would be the St. Vincent NICU. The balloons went on the mailbox when she came home, 183 days later. One thing I might think about putting on the announcement are ways people can help — everyone wanted to know how they could help — I would often just ask that they say a prayer, but the meals that people prepared were nice and the offers to take my other children and do fun things with them were nice as well." Adrienne says, "I’d tell your friends and family. They will rejoice every milestone, and will mourn with you if, god forbid, something happens. My friends put a big banner on my house when I came home with Kyle from the hospital (after 7 weeks). That was announcement enough for the neighbors!" Lauri shares, "I’m the mother of twin boys too. Jonathan (4 lbs. 4 ounces) and Benjamin (2 lbs. 10 ounces) - they
sound big compared to yours don’t they? That’s a first. I wasn’t sure that my babies would make it either - they had alot of
complications even though they were 30 weekers. I remember all the congratulations cards and flowers - and I remember wanting to throw the
flowers out the window and scream "but it’s nothing to be happy about". I do regret though not sending out some kind of
announcement. I did not not preemie announcements were available though - and the other ones weren’t right for our situation. Here are
some sites you might want to look at... http://www.APlaceToRemember.com has some neat announcements, I just didn’t know about them about the time. Beware though - some of their announcements are for bereavements. http://www.prematurelyyours.com/announce.htm - has preemie baby books and announcements. http://members.aol.com/MarAim/preemie.htm#Miscellaneous - has a list of all sorts of products and information that I’ve found helpful too." Melissa remembers, "I was very determined to get my sons birth notice in asap. It was in the on his 3rd day of life. For me though I felt I had to announce his birth before I announced his death. I felt that was the way it was meant to be. I also had his death notice written in my head just in case. Luckily I never needed the death notice and I am pleased that I put his birth notice in as soon as I did. Different people feel differently though. I was at the time surprised how many people waited, but then realized that it wasn’t their first time having a baby that they could lose." |
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