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2012
NICU Gift Bags for Christmas
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So I thought I might just post this for many who are considering doing gift bags for families in the NICU over the holidays. Spencer was born on Black Friday 2009 and we weren’t released until 64 days later so spent Christmas and New Year’s in the NICU (and yes, that’s Spencer in the picture in the stocking). We had a few former parents bring us small gift bags by and it meant the world to me. It felt special that they had taken their time out to do this for us, and the following Christmas, I contacted the NICU to see if they were doing it again so that I could contribute. Unfortunately, they weren’t doing them, so I couldn’t let that happen!
I contacted the other parents I had become friends with in the NICU and they were in to helping created some gift bags! Since Spencer’s birthday was at the end of NOV, for his 1st birthday we asked for no gifts for Spencer, but items we could donate to the parents in the NICU. Our friends and fellow preemie parents hit up Costco and we were well stocked! We had gourmet hot chocolates, gourmet candies, notepads, granola bars, hand lotions, lip balms and even a few local companies donated discount coupons. I also created and included the preemie sized t “Ho Ho Home please!” for each baby and an IAPT discount coupon. Several of us typed up our stories with before/after pictures and included those in the bags for a little dose of hope as well.
Another of the mom’s and I went up and hand delivered each bag, met many of the parents and I was lucky enough a mom let me hold her beautiful little girl…this was her second preemie and she new the routine well. I felt so blessed to hold such a beautiful little miracle once again! This year the Family Support Group is doing the bags, I am donating shirts/coupons and have also suggested they go to local restaurants to see if they can get some donations of gift cards or discounts. Maybe even see if friends want to donate gas cards for those that have to travel a long way.
And for those in the NICU, a friend blew up the picture of Spencer in the stocking and took it to the mall and had Santa hold the 8×10 picture so that we could indeed have a picture of Spencer with a mall Santa his first year!!
Went to the same Santa the next year with Spencer, what a difference!! It’s hard being in the NICU anytime, but especially hard over the holidays when you want nothing more but to be around your own tree with your family, rather than an isolette in the NICU. I can tell you from experience, the first Christmas home is just that much sweeter!
Happy Holidays to all, and thank you to those that are paying it forward!
If you are doing gift bags for your NICU, please feel free to include a discount coupon to It’s a Preemie Thing in each one! Just click on the following link: Christmas 2012
Handful of Hope delivers items to the DuBois NICU and here are some ideas from them! What about journals and pen sets. (Great for moms to record those precious first moments). Storybooks for the parents to read to their babies. Hand sanitizers. Toothbrush, tooth paste, disposable razors (all of my preemies were emergencies and I literally only had the clothes on my back…could be the same for other moms). Puzzle books like seek and finds or crosswords for the parents to pass the time in case they can’t hold their little ones. Reusable water bottles (our NICU had an ice and water dispensing machine in the parents’ lounge). Coffee mugs with individual packs of hot cocoa. Individual packs of snacks (cookies, chips, etc.) so the parents don’t have to leave their little ones side for a snack.
- Here is the same Santa holding his 1st pic and Spencer at 1yr! LOL…love the face!
Feel free to leave even more ideas in the comments below!
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Thanks so much for the coupon to your site! I will definitely include this in the care packages we include for our NICU!! Aside from hand sanitizer, lotion, candy and tissues to name a few items, we’ve also purchased a copy of Dr. Seuss’s “Oh Baby, the Places You’ll Go” for each care package. I read that book to my preemie every day in the NICU, so its quite near and dear to my heart. We’ll also be making “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments
What a great idea! We didn’t receive gift bags in the NICU (Winter of 2010/2011), but several parents did drop off little gifts or cards, so I knew I wanted to do something special. I decided that we’d get a little gift for a new preemie with my son’s name (Michael) and instructions for the nurses to deliver it. I spent the whole year looking for a book with a Michael, and I actually found the perfect one in the airport on the way home (we’d moved across the country since Michael was discharged). We dropped off the book, a preemie outfit, and a note with Michael primary nurse when we visited on his first birthday, right before Christmas. I hope that it gave a new set of parents a little bit of hope! Maybe we will make gift bags for everyone next year…
I once found a book called “I am small”. Great book about a penguin who was too small to do the things other penguins could do. But, the one thing he had was his mom and dad. The ending says, “I may be small but I can see the biggest thing to you is me!” Love the book. Great reminder for NICU parents. Emma Dodd is the author and the publisher is Scholastic. I bought as many books as I could at the book sale I found it at. I gave one to my son for his birthday, took one to the NICU for their library for parents to read their babies, and I included one in each of the gift bags I took up at that time.
I don’t make bags just at Christmas. My son was born June 27th so it is almost exactly 6 mo. from the holidays so we always do one for his birthday and one at Christmas, but I pick things up all year and I make bags all year round. I am friends with the NICU nurses in the NICU and they’ll let me know when parents with great needs come in. I always come up when they have a need. The nurses have grown to appreciate them as much as the parents. They even ask me to bring my son sometimes so I can meet a parent who has a micro preemie so they can see one in person who has done very well to bring them hope. (Derek is now 4.5 y.o.).
Keep giving! All year!!!