NICU Care Packages 2013

The NICU Care Packages have been delivered!! Hooray! These care packages have been donated in honor of our own former 25 weeker, 1 lb 8 oz baby boy along with his friends Isaiah, JJ, Kyle, & Brant. And also in loving memory of our own Carter and his friends Hudson, Miranda, & Keaton.

We kept things quite simple this year and I think we were still very successful. I am continually overwhelmed by the generosity of others who support us in this project. It would absolutely not be possible without all of you!

Now that we are trying to wrangle two kids and a busy house, we decided to simplify the list for storing and organizing purposes. My friend Angie came up with the idea to put the care packages in reusable bags, which I thought was brilliant. She donated all of the bags, tissues, notebooks, and pens for the care packages. Amazing! We also had a group of local moms that donated many tiny, perfect knitted and crocheted hats. And of course all of our wonderful family and friends!

Each care package includes a blanket, hat, small notebook, pen, tissues, Emergen-C, chocolate, granola bar/trail mix, hand sanitizer, chapstick, lotion, and a small children's book.

                      

Every year I get nervous about whether we will be able to gather everything we need and whether we will have the finances to fill in the gaps. In the last 3 years, we have never been lacking in any of the things we need. It's incredible. We have a lot of family, friends, and even strangers that are willing to help out NICU families and babies.

I had grand plans to take the care packages down to UW as a family, but it just wasn't working out. We had to cancel two trips because of sicknesses and finally we were running out of time. Since it's a 2 hour drive each way, it isn't exactly a quick trip, especially with two kids. In the end, we decided we would have our little elf (Danny) drop off the care packages during a trip he was already making.

Unfortunately that means there are no pictures of the actual delivery. BUT, it doesn't take away how exciting it is to be able to drop off 45 care packages, sleep sacks, and extra handmade hats and blankets!

We will never be able to fully express our gratitude to everyone who continually contributes to this project. The packages outside the door, the growing pile of donations, the love and care we feel behind each person that asks how they can help. While the time we spent in the NICU was not during the holidays, it was long and it was hard. I can't imagine how hard it must be to have a baby in the NICU during the holidays and not being able to be home as a family. My hope is always that these care packages can be a bright spot in a long, tiring journey.

If you would like to read our story and how we got involved in this, click here. And also, our past years of NICU Care Packages 2011 and 2012.

Care Package Update

NICU Care Packages are well underway! The boxes of items are slowly filling up our extra room. I am continually amazed at the generosity of others. I always get worried that we won't get the donations that we need and that we will end up filling in the gaps out of our own pockets. That has not happened yet, which is so wonderful!

We truly appreciate your willingness to give and help out and I know the families will be thankful as well. I remember the days someone would bring in little hats or something and we would race out to the front desk to pick one, a little bright spot in some otherwise long, hard days.

The count: So far we have 29 blankets (plus a bunch I need to finish sewing), 12 hand sanitizers, 10 chapsticks, 3 boxes of Emergen-C, trail mix, granola bars, and 9 kids books!

It's funny the things that we have a hard time getting from year to year always changes. Last year the blankets were a struggle while this year we have lots (which is awesome because it's less for me to sew :)

We are still IN NEED OF:

Hand sanitizers
Small board books (we would like them to be new so we aren't taking any chances with germs)
Travel size lotions
Chapstick

If you are local and would like to donate any of these items, just get in touch with me and we'll arrange something for pick up or drop off. If you aren't local and still want to help, check out our amazon wish list, it's really easy to purchase something and have it shipped directly to us! 

I have also spoken with the NICU manager and asked if there was anything else that would be nice for them to have at the NICU. They are always in need of sleep sacks to use in the NICU and also to send home with families. If you have any gently used sleep sacks you would like to donate, or would like to purchase one new, let me know. 

Thank you all SO much, this truly would not be possible without all of you!

NICU Care Packages 2013

It's almost that time again! I went back and forth about whether we would be able to do them this year, with 2 little boys requiring lots of attention and limited resources financially on my end.

BUT, I think I would just be totally bummed to not be able to do them again this year. So, we'll make it work! We have been so incredibly blessed by all the support for this project and there's absolutely NO way we could do it without our family, friends and even strangers.

So I'm going to do a little thinking out loud here for myself. I still want to make sure every family gets a hat and blanket (new - knit, crochet, or sewn or store bought). As far as the things for parents I think we will shave down the list a little and do:

- Hand sanitizer
- Lotion
- Granola bars/protein bars
- Candy
- Chapstick
- Vitamin C drops/Emergen-C
- Small children's books (we loved reading to Cohen, it felt like it was one of the only things we could "do")

I would also like to still send a few bags for parents in need (preemie clothes, diapers, wipes, small new baby toys, hand sanitizer).

Whew! That's my brain for now. I'm getting excited to be doing this again, it has been a wonderful way to give back to our NICU.

You can see our past years here and here