Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Giving Back - Need Your Help

I have been thinking about ways to give back this year after we have been so blessed with the healthy birth of our beautiful girls. I got an idea from another blog to donate preemie onesies and other preemie clothes to the NICU at Banner Desert Hospital where the girls spent the first month of their lives.

As a mother of preemies, I know how difficult the NICU journey can be. Many parents don't anticipate that their child or children will need to spend time in the hospital before being able to come home with mom and dad. These parents usually don't have clothes prepared for such small babies. Most of these parents are spending as much time up at the hospital and don't have the time to go out shopping so their baby can have some clothes to wear. Having a child in the NICU can also be a financial strain on the parents. For me, being able to put clothes on my girls made taking care of my girls a more normal experience rather than focusing on trials of having your baby hospitalized.

I would like to celebrate the lives of the babies that are going to be spending December in the NICU this year by giving these parents an outfit to put on their baby. I did find shopping for preemie clothes to be a little bit of a challenge when my girls were so small. The best places to find preemie clothes were Babies R Us, The Carter's store, and Walmart.

I'm urging all my friends and family to help me out on quest to donate at least one article of clothing to each preemie baby staying in the NICU. The NICU normally holds around 60-70 babies at a time. Please help me by purchasing onesies or sending a donation to help me purchase as many onesies as possible. Any donation would be greatly appreciated. I would like to make the donation by December 12th which is a few days before we leave on our trip to Wisconsin. Please contact me and send me an email at ahaasis@yahoo.com to let me know if you can help us out in our goal.

We did not have clothing ready to put on our girls and we received a few donations while Addison and Riley were growing and learning to eat in the NICU. The first onesie that Riley got to wear was a donation. Here is a picture of our beautiful girl with her very first outfit that the NICU donated to us:



You can see that even a preemie onesie was big on our little 3 pound 12 ounce sweetheart.

Happy Holidays and God Bless,

The Prather Family

3 comments:

  1. Dear Addison & Riley,

    I sent some clothes for the little babies at the hospital. I just couldn't believe it when my mommy said that some babies come early. What were you girls thinking!? I had to be dragged out kicking and screaming, I'd still be sitting in there right side up if I had my way!

    My mommy also said that I got an email saying that the items will arrive at your house at the beginning of December. Mommy conducts most of my business for me since I can't read or type.

    I hope you get the items in time. I don't know why it will take that long, hopefully it really won't.

    I have to go take a nap now.

    ♥,
    Ada

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  2. So I'm not nearly as clever as Miss Ada, but we will definitely help with your cause! Until you experienced life in the NICU, I didn't know what it was all about other than taking care of small or sick babies. The journey is amazing and parents of NICU babies hold a special place in my heart!

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  3. Fabulous idea Amy! When we left the NICU the two bigger boys were getting into Newborn clothes so we left all of their stuff for other families. The nurses were so grateful and I am sure other families were too. I will get something sent out to you as soon as I can!

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