My SIL is having a 28 weeker

sam19

My husband's sister is approximately 28 weeks pregnant. She went into the hospital today with extreme pain and vomiting. Turns out something is wrong with her gall bladder and her blood pressure was extremely high. They decided that it would be best to deliver the baby so they are going to life flight her to another hospital with a NICU. My husband is going to be there and I'll be home with Natalie.

I figured I would go out and pick up a few things that she is going to absolutely need. So tell me what is necessary for a premie mom. I know she has absolutely nothing. I figure the baby will be in the NICU for a while so I want to get her things she can use in the hospital that may not be provided as well as stocking up on some of the things she's going to need when she gets home. I guess I have no clue what I want to do but I feel like I need to do something for her.

ayram

Hope everything goes well for your SIL.  It's so thoughtful of you.  Some things that were brought to me which I appreciated were:

• healthy munchies
• a notebook & pen
• soduku/crossword puzzles
• quick-read magazines
• lip balm/handcream, hand sanitizer
• I loved the crystal light packets - I filled my water bottle, then added them
• gift cards for restaurants in the area
• gas gift cards

By the way, I had a 27 weeker, born at 2lbs 5 oz.  He stayed 62 days, no major issues, and is now happy, healthy, and 16 lbs at 10 months.

LuckyMom0203

ayram:

Hope everything goes well for your SIL.  It's so thoughtful of you.  Some things that were brought to me which I appreciated were:

• healthy munchies
• a notebook & pen
• soduku/crossword puzzles
• quick-read magazines
• lip balm/handcream, hand sanitizer
• I loved the crystal light packets - I filled my water bottle, then added them
• gift cards for restaurants in the area
• gas gift cards

By the way, I had a 27 weeker, born at 2lbs 5 oz.  He stayed 62 days, no major issues, and is now happy, healthy, and 16 lbs at 10 months.

 

All this. Plus...

-Soft, cuddly baby blankets for her to do Kangaroo Care (that was an immediate need for us that we didn't have)

-Eventually, she'll need preemie clothes.  It'd be great to get her a few onesies so she can feel prepared when the time comes (it won't be for at least another month or so, though).  Walmart and Target are pretty good about carrying preemie sizes. 

-Definitely a really rich, thick hand cream.  She'll be washing her hands about a million times a day.

-This one may sound a little odd but...A book of fairy tales.  When we did kangaroo care, I would hold Annabelle and my husband would read to her (or the other way around).  We felt the need for her to hear our voices but couldn't think of much to say!  This gave us a good soothing routine and was enjoyable for all.  (I suggest a fairy tale book b/c you can get a lot of mileage out of that-- as opposed to a ten page Dr. Seuss book). 

 

LuckyMom0203

Also... (sorry I didn't do an edit) our little one was born at 26 weeks, 1 lb., 13oz and is now perfectly healthy, happy and active.

OscarQ

Find out if there is a coffee shop in her hospital and get her a gift card - we made our hospital's coffee shop our meeting point for visitors and it was just so nice to take a break and treat myself to a $4 latte without using cash.

Depending on the baby's condition she won't be in clothes for awhile. We were allowed to make up Kevin's isolette with receiving blankets so maybe their NICU also allows that. 

Irishsapphire

I was in the hurry to the hospital, and I forgot my shampoo.  So it would have been nice to have been given a nice gift set of shampoo, really nice soap, and lotion (you have to wash your hands every time you go into the NICU/ISCU and your hands can dry out). 

As well, it would have been nice to have a gift card to Starbucks if there is a Starbucks near her hospital. 

I just discovered to good website at a consignment sale fair last weekend.  It is called It's a Preemie Thing (you would have to google it and they are on Facebook).  They have some fun onesies and fleece blankets. 

My baby was born close to 31 weeks, and he was 4 lbs 9 oz.  You may want to find out how big the baby is.  He basically wore baby clothes that the NICU/ISCU unit already had.  And I went out later to JC Penney's and got some cute Carter's newborn outfits at a good cost (they were a little big,but he eventually grew out of them after he came home from the hospital).   The only thing is that I will say that someone sent me a Preemie outfit after we came home after we came home from the hospital, and it was too small (he was 6 lbs when he came home from the hospital).  So my baby never got to wear this preemie outfit, and I just donated it to the NICU unit at the hospital. 

Oh, and one gift that I got after baby was born was Gerber onesies.  They size small, and they worked really well for my baby boy. 

shanlubey

I agree with everyone already, but to add, I loved having a journal, more than one pen (cause they sometimes don't run well) and a disposable camera. We've left the camera here over night and the nurses catch pictures of Samuel doing cute things. 

sam19

Thank you guys. I bought her a bunch of the game books and a regular book. I also got a gas card and some cheap preemie outfits. A few snacks for her. I've thought about giving her my camera to use at the hospital since I know she doesn't have a camera. Do you think I should just give her a disposable instead? Thank you for all your suggestions. I plan to go pick her up a few restaurant gift cards tomorrow.

 Congrats on all your beautiful LOs. 

LuckyMom0203

sam19:

Thank you guys. I bought her a bunch of the game books and a regular book. I also got a gas card and some cheap preemie outfits. A few snacks for her. I've thought about giving her my camera to use at the hospital since I know she doesn't have a camera. Do you think I should just give her a disposable instead? Thank you for all your suggestions. I plan to go pick her up a few restaurant gift cards tomorrow.

 Congrats on all your beautiful LOs. 

 

I'd give her my camera AND buy a disposable to leave by the bed for the nurses.  Also, once the baby has been in the NICU a while, you might also offer to go up and take pictures for her.  I spent 99% of my time there holding my baby so picture-taking was not on the agenda.  I had a friend who came up and took some of us as a family and these are some of my most cherished photos. 

Your sister in law is lucky to have you-- keep up the good work!

mrsV719

Ditto to the PPs...  

But also, get her the "Premature Baby Book" by Dr. Sears... it has been so helpful to feel not so alone in the process once the dust settles a bit. 

If you live near by, you should cook some meals that can be frozen and pre-portioned so that she and her DH/SO don't have to think about going to the store, cooking, and what to make. My sister is with us right now and has been a cooking machine and it's so nice to just go to the freezer and pull something out after spending all day with my LO. 

Finally, just be there for her to talk to.. but don't force her to talk... just let her know that you are there-- and truly be there. Sometimes its nice to just have someone to sit next to you... 

witt0198

Preemies, the essential guide for parents of premature infants is a great book.

Our ICU had preemie clothes for the kiddo's to wear, and he was 5lbs 10oz when he came home....preemie sizes only go to 6lbs so he didn't get to wear them very long.

Most preemie mom's end up pumping, extra pumping sets came in handy for me, then I didn't have to do dishes as often, I also used a microwave steam sterilizer to transport my stuff, and clean the supplies after every pumping

Anything to do with food is good. There just wasn't time/energy to cook, so good food/money to buy crap food, it's all appreciated.

 

AGHR31

Hi - I had my twins at 28 weeks and now they are about ready to come home! 

One of the things I appreciated the most was having those 'normal' moments with my kids. While you should not go overboard there are NICU approved micro preemie clothing that I would highly suggest getting. It was so emotional to come in and see my babies all dressed up. The NICU acceptable clothing allow easy access to IVs and ability to see their tummies. I would recommend preemiestore.com.

 I'm sure the NICU offers parking passes to the parents but if they don't getting them a few parking passes for their trips to visit the babies would be amazing as well as gas cards.

I'd also recommend some sort of gift cards or Let's Dish gift certificate to help the parents out with food. 

Heather1979

Ditto what everyone else said, but also, when buying clothing avoid things with zippers. A lot of us had babies come home on monitors and she may need to be able to run lead wires in and out of the outfit. GL! You are a good SIL.

theprincessPAT

All of that - and does she wear contacts?  I didn't bring glasses or contact solution with me to the hospital and my eyes got so dried out they hurt.  So at the very least solution and a case might be appreciated.  Even if you can't get to her glasses for her, this way she can still take her contacts out for a little while.