Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Monday, July 19, 2010

Little Miss

Bella's first weekend home - she still sleeps with this bear. Little Miss will hit her 1 year homecoming August 8th. I can't believe she has been home with us this long. I can't believe she is 16 months. She amazes me everyday. We both just look at her in amazement. She is the happiest little girl. No matter if she feels bad she is still able to work up a smile. And of course we think she is the cutest little girl too. :)


So I am looking for help that anyone can provided me with. Now that life is starting to get normal again. And we have a good routine. I am back at work on a routine and Bella is doing great. I want to give back to other preemie mom's it is something I have thought about since before I had her; three weeks in the hospital on bed rest gave me lots of time to think about what changes I wanted to make in my life after all this.

And I have thought long and hard about it. I decided that I want to figure out how to start some kind of NICU organization. They have the March of Dimes that is great and I plan to do the walk in 2011 and lot of other great organizations for pre-term labor & preemies research. But I want to give back to the preemie moms/dads/grandparents/foster parents who are in the NICU. Nothing about having a NICU baby is normal.

Is it the best thing that could of ever happen to me? YES.

Would I have changed things? I can't say. I think God knew what he was doing when he gave me Bella.

Would I love to have more children? Sure I would, I love being a mom. I know people say that but I really do mean it when I say it I love everything about being a mom. I get frustrated and need a break of course I am not super mom. But I love the good and the bad.

So with that said.
Any suggestions or help on how to make this dream a reality please let me know.

I want to figure out a way to take donations to then donate to the parents at the NICU, to buy preemie cloths for the baby's in the NICU, to buy chairs(which are in high demand - or take donations) and mobiles(plastic ones are best - lots of fluids to get cloth ones dirty). These are all the things I had in the NICU that made going each day more tolerable. I want to do gift baskets for new moms that are filled with the things you can have in the NICU; like camera w/flash, notebook, pens & literature for the new parents. You would be surprise at the fact that a lot of hospitals don't have books on preemie baby's for new moms to read. Space is limited for that. And in the first few days they are so focused on all the medical issues they forget to tell you about how your baby will look. They spend so much time telling you statics they don't think about telling you the baby's skin won't look normal or they may not open there eyes for a while. And even that a girl may not look like a girl. Everyone knows that was the hardest thing for me. But after about a month I went to a book and got a book on preemies. I skipped the chapter on grieving. And read the first few pages. Those first few chapters would have helped so much to understand the appearance of the baby.

It is hard to not bring home your baby. And the stay is long. I treated Bella's space like it was her home. I never started a nurse I am so thankful for that because I don't think I could have came home everyday to a empty nurse. I created her nurse there.

All these things make the time a little easier.

12 comments:

trash talk said...

I'll leave a longer comment later Baby. Right now I'm so proud of you I can't see the keyboard for the tears.
Mom

Sue said...

What an awesome "pay it forward" goal of yours! You should be so proud of yourself. Maybe you could find an attorney or organization that would set you up a non-profit status so you could collect donations. That might be your first step. I continue, over a year later, to love each and every one of little Bella's photos.

Take care, Sue

David said...

I can see God has laid this on your heart. Awesome! I wish you the best in carrying it out. Let us know what help you need.

Malisa said...

Oh, what an awesome goal! Jenn, you have been blessed with the spirit of helping others! I think you should do some research on available grants which would give you the start up funding. There are also some generous philanthropists in the DFW area! Compose a good letter which you can send out to various individuals. I will be glad to proof read your letter if you need me to. I will put my thinking cap on and let you know what I come up with.

Way to go, Jenn!

Malisa

red.neck chic said...

Oh! Oh! Oh! Instead of a gift basket you could do a "preemie" bag? I think I know someone that jump right in with her sewing machine for you...

Without Bella I wouldn't have met you and your Mom and your Dad... and Bella!

Hmmmm.... now I'm in thinking mode...

I think you are AWESOME!!! Did you know that?

;-) robelyn

Anne Lorys said...

I like the preemie bag suggestion a lot, good one Robelyn.

Sending you lots of prayers as you begin this amazing project!

Anne

WIZARD OF ONCE WAS "WooW" said...

Jenn,
I don't know if this is in the right direction, but I used to belong to a women's Soriety...Beta Sigma Phi...one of there obligations is to provide a philanthrophic assistance annually. We always worked with a local small hospital and provided neo natal funds to help with the growing cost for so many families...It may be worth your while to check into your local chaper(s) as it is a nation wide soriety. My best to you on this new venture! God Bless You!
Gale

Sissie's Shabby Cottage said...

You are an amazing woman and Mother.
I wish you the very best in your decision to start your organization.

hugs
Sissie

countrycharisma said...

Hi Jenn, I came over from you mother's link. I am really blessed by you idea of service to the NICU families. You know, you will probably end up having to form a non-profit to get status for donations, eventually, but you can set up a web site just for this, and begin telling the world outside blogville your story. It is a good story and a very worthy cause. God has blessed you and you want to bless others; we should all take note. blessings on your journey. carrell

Debra@CommonGround said...

Hi Jenn, this sounds wonderful! What a huge blessing this will be for new parents. You have some great ideas on what to do. I'll be praying for guidance and opportunities to get you started.
hugs and love,
Debra
p.s. hugs and smooches to Bella!

Anonymous said...

Jenn, what a wonderful idea...who better than someone who has "walked the walk" and knows the needs. There are some very good suggestions in these comments on intial steps to take. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with. My prayers are with you on this wonderful venture God has laid on your heart.
marcie

Lisa said...

Hi, I'm a friend of your Mom's & also a mother of preemies. Actually 3, I had triplets in 05 that were born at 30 weeks, each weighed a little over 2 lbs. Not to get into my whole story but it was horrific seeing my babies intubated, under lights for jaundice, possible heart problems, tubes feeding them etc.
They came home one at a time, the last after spending 2 months in the hospital. I owe my children's lives to the NICU team at Baylor Grapevine. We also received aftercare from them. Thank the lord I now have beautiful healthy children who are even taller than most kids their age. I know I have the NICU Docs & Nurses to thank for that. I would love to get involved in your project. I also don't really know where to start other than going to the hospital & speaking to the social services people there. Perhaps we could do something under one name & donate or whatever to the hospital of our choice??? My email is lisamcilvain@yahoo.com. I'd love to chat sometime.
BTW, give that sweet Bella a kiss for me!