Moms of Preemies!
Please help me out!
I
am in a new non-profit organization knows as the Destiny Project Inc.
We are located in a small rural town that does not have a NICU. The
closest one is an hour and a half away. Our dream if for our county to
one day have a NICU or at the very least a NICU stabilizer. But for the
moment (starting small) we are going to be helping moms get to the NICU
hospital by providing transportation or gas cards. Lodging (if needed)
and some money for food and necessities while away. We also want to help
moms after baby leaves the hospital.
We are starting to build up a stock of preemie clothes and a question came up if we were only needing clothes. I have no idea!! I have 3 children, all who were born full-term and I have no preemie experience. The only preemie things I know about are clothes and a special car seat.
My questions:
Besides clothes and the special car seat, what is needed to care for a preemie?
How often were you visiting your child in the NICU?
What necessities did YOU need while going through those rough days/months?
Were you required to stay at the hospital you delivered for any amount of time other than delivery? (bed rest at hospital; required stay due to other reasons?) If so, how long was the stay?
If you had to travel to get to your child: did you get to go as often as you wanted? If not, what prevented you from being able to? (gas, bills, work, etc...)
Is there anything you can add that I have not thought of?
I am so thankful for any help we can get from you! Thank you!!
Replies
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Yes there are a few great books that you could either loan to mommas or give out. It goes over what to expect, emotionally, physically for your preemie that was helpful. One is called " preemies second addition" and the " preemie parent companion" providing them with a support group would be the only other thing I would mention. That is all I needed. To know others had gone through it and I needed support. You can figure and get through everything else... -
Thank you so much on the book titles! I will look into them!
Quoting zannahdeux:
Yes there are a few great books that you could either loan to mommas or give out. It goes over what to expect, emotionally, physically for your preemie that was helpful. One is called " preemies second addition" and the " preemie parent companion" providing them with a support group would be the only other thing I would mention. That is all I needed. To know others had gone through it and I needed support. You can figure and get through everything else... -
I would try to find breast pumps for moms, hospital grade so they could rent it or borrow one, if their insurance didn't cover it. Medela makes hospital grade ones as well as PJs Comfort. See if there are any Lactation Groups that can assist in any surrounding areas. If it weren't for my PJs Comfort pump, I never would have been able to breast feed or provice BM while my DD was in the NICU
Now on the flip side, I was also have formula availible too. I had to supplement my BM with the NeoSure, or an infant formula. Bottles are always helpful too...often preemies need the same thing as full term babies. So extra diapers on hand, books. But honestly the hospital grade breast pump was a lifer saver.
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Great ideas! Thank you!
Quoting mom2alyssa_h:
I would try to find breast pumps for moms, hospital grade so they could rent it or borrow one, if their insurance didn't cover it. Medela makes hospital grade ones as well as PJs Comfort. See if there are any Lactation Groups that can assist in any surrounding areas. If it weren't for my PJs Comfort pump, I never would have been able to breast feed or provice BM while my DD was in the NICU
Now on the flip side, I was also have formula availible too. I had to supplement my BM with the NeoSure, or an infant formula. Bottles are always helpful too...often preemies need the same thing as full term babies. So extra diapers on hand, books. But honestly the hospital grade breast pump was a lifer saver.
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I second breast pumps. I am still exclusively pumping for my daughter.
I wasn't able to visit my daughter as much as I'd like due to how far away the hospital was from our house.
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That is something we will certainly do! Thanks for the input!!
Quoting dahliapetal:
I second breast pumps. I am still exclusively pumping for my daughter.
I wasn't able to visit my daughter as much as I'd like due to how far away the hospital was from our house.
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Also frozen, premade meals were great while she was in the NICU and when she came home.
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Great idea! Thanks!
Quoting dahliapetal:
Also frozen, premade meals were great while she was in the NICU and when she came home.
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Besides clothes and the special car seat, what is needed to care for a preemie? A.) sanitizer and a baby hazzard sign that says "please do not touch" for anything that directly relates to baby - my dd still has a very compromised immune system and people just can't resist the urge to put their hands all over her. Also clothing that provides super easy access to all wires/tubes/med stuff
How often were you visiting your child in the NICU? A.) drove an hour to and from at least 3 or 4 times a week to see her, more when I could -my other children are school age, so going every day just wasn't some thing we were able to do.
What necessities did YOU need while going through those rough days/months? A.) breast pump -I can't possibly stress that one enough. Protien bars, good button up shirts, Milk storage bags -you can never have enough, Nursing pads, CHILD CARE for my other kids who couldn't go into the NICU and a friend to talk to, **Cleaning wipes for breast pump supplies** and a large water bottle
Were you required to stay at the hospital you delivered for any amount of time other than delivery? (bed rest at hospital; required stay due to other reasons?) If so, how long was the stay? A.) yes, 10 days for me personally due to severe HELLP syndrom and more than 3 months NICU for my dd
If you had to travel to get to your child: did you get to go as often as you wanted? If not, what prevented you from being able to? (gas, bills, work, etc...) A.) No -gas, lack of child care, lack of transportation, and my husband's 2 jobs- would have stayed longer at the lodging they had if I could afford it but $75 a day is more than 2x my rent and that's not even including what I had to pay in babysitters fees
Is there anything you can add that I have not thought of? A.) phone cards, lactaion cookies, gift card to nursing boutique -regular stores might not carry the right sizes
Aside from all that, I just want to thank you for doing this. It means so much to the mom's and families who go through this.
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What great information!! I really appreciate it! Thanks! The water bottle, cleaning wipes and the mom items you mentioned are great things we haven't thought about yet!
Quoting ArcticFire:
Besides clothes and the special car seat, what is needed to care for a preemie? A.) sanitizer and a baby hazzard sign that says "please do not touch" for anything that directly relates to baby - my dd still has a very compromised immune system and people just can't resist the urge to put their hands all over her. Also clothing that provides super easy access to all wires/tubes/med stuff
How often were you visiting your child in the NICU? A.) drove an hour to and from at least 3 or 4 times a week to see her, more when I could -my other children are school age, so going every day just wasn't some thing we were able to do.
What necessities did YOU need while going through those rough days/months? A.) breast pump -I can't possibly stress that one enough. Protien bars, good button up shirts, Milk storage bags -you can never have enough, Nursing pads, CHILD CARE for my other kids who couldn't go into the NICU and a friend to talk to, **Cleaning wipes for breast pump supplies** and a large water bottle
Were you required to stay at the hospital you delivered for any amount of time other than delivery? (bed rest at hospital; required stay due to other reasons?) If so, how long was the stay? A.) yes, 10 days for me personally due to severe HELLP syndrom and more than 3 months NICU for my dd
If you had to travel to get to your child: did you get to go as often as you wanted? If not, what prevented you from being able to? (gas, bills, work, etc...) A.) No -gas, lack of child care, lack of transportation, and my husband's 2 jobs- would have stayed longer at the lodging they had if I could afford it but $75 a day is more than 2x my rent and that's not even including what I had to pay in babysitters fees
Is there anything you can add that I have not thought of? A.) phone cards, lactaion cookies, gift card to nursing boutique -regular stores might not carry the right sizes
Aside from all that, I just want to thank you for doing this. It means so much to the mom's and families who go through this.