Question for NICU mamas...clothes?

[Bella_mezzo]

I have a dear friend who has been diagnosed with a difficult illness that has a very challenging prognosis. She is pregnant with her 4th child and due to medical reasons her baby will likely be born 4-8 weeks early. Her health in not in a state where she could go out and meet with friends, or even see many visitors. This time is bittersweet as she has treatments and tries to spend time with her 3 young children and husband.

Although it is a difficult time, I wanted to do something fun and special for her to celebrate the impending birth of her 4th child.

So, I was thinking of sending her a little "shower in a box" with some preemie sized clothes, flowers, and maybe an edible arrangement or something like that.

It is likely that her baby will be in the NICU at least for a little while as they will be born early...there are a lot of unknowns, but in general what kind of clothes are appropriate for the NICU?

 

[Dreamer_D]

I can't answer your question, Bella, but my thoughts are with your friend and her family.

 

[Skippy123]

Hi Bella, I am sorry to hear this; I will keep her in my prayers/thoughts that both will be okay. As a mom to some preemies; I think what you are planning to send sounds perfect. Please keep us posted. I will say that they do stay in preemie clothes a short time so a couple of outfits sounds great and I bet will mean a lot to her as it sounds like she is spending time with the other kids. hugs

 

[Kunzite]

That's hard because 4-8 is a big range and closer to 4 weeks early preemie might not fit. As far as what is NICU appropriate, the only thing I would avoid are zipper sleepers. The only way to run the leads with those is to cut a hole in them. I would probably choose long sleeve over short sleeve as well. Temperature regulation is a big thing for preemies and they will sometimes swaddle them with their arms out. Big hugs to your friend!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

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So, I was thinking of sending her a little "shower in a box" with some preemie sized clothes, flowers, and maybe an edible arrangement or something like that.

It is likely that her baby will be in the NICU at least for a little while as they will be born early...there are a lot of unknowns, but in general what kind of clothes are appropriate for the NICU?

I'm sorry about your friend. This isn't about clothes, but with the food, maybe go with non-parishables that she can eat at appropropriate time. I have a friend who went through a major trauma a few months back and she was given so much perishable food, she ended up giving it away to others. I had spent a lot on food for her family AND did do an edible arrangements and she had said having prepackaged frozen would be better. If your friend is dealing with an illness and trying to care for her family, possibly Clif Bars or organic Amy's dinners will help them out.

And, FWIW, when my son was in the NICU, the nurses dressed him. All I focused on was trying to figure out how to BF him.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Thank you all so much!!!! I love my PS mamas!!!!

For regular food they are all set(we've arranged a neighborhood meal delivery every other day, like a round robin for as long as they need--and it is scheduled to go until the fall at least). I just wanted to include a fun special treat for their family to make things festive and baby shower-like when they open the presents The sadness of her illness overshadows the joy of the coming baby, so I wanted to try and give them a moment to celebrate that just shows up on their door for whenever they feel well enough to open it...

Since this is her fourth baby she has lots of baby clothes, but mostly 0-3.

So, I think I am going to drop off a basket with:

two preemie outfits (long sleeved with snaps and caps)
two newborn outfits
a little crocheted owl hat and diaper cover just for fun! (like you use for newborn photos)
a little organic hand cream and soap from our neighborhood farmers market (just for her)
a half dozen cupcakes or an edible arrangement
some kind of decoration (like a chinese paper lantern, banner, or some helium balloons)
a card for her boys from my son (they are good friends)
a card from me to her and her husband

I'm going to wash all the clothes in Dreft so they are ready to be used and will let her know to feel free to donate or pass them along if she doesn't need them and/or when her precious little one out grows them.

 

[parrot tulips]

Bella, you are so sweet to be thinking of your friend and her WHOLE family. This may be a little late, but the nurses in our NICU had dressed our daughter in a regular long sleeved onesie. When we realized we were allowed to bring in clothes for her, we brought in a few long sleeved kimono style onesies. The nurses really loved the ones with Velcro, because it made accessing her leads super easy, but side snaps were great too. Since we have a girl, we're keeping her preemie clothes so she can dress up her dolls when she's old enough to play with them.