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Feeling selfish

jkipp82jkipp82
in Preemies

I really really want to donate to our nicu or to another nicu cause like the one posted below, but I don't want to give up my preemie clothes since DH and I will definitely try for one or two more LOs in the next year or two.  While I pray to God we don't have another preemie - we all know that the risk is there and increased.  And a monetary donation at this time is really difficult since I'm off work til Feb, big insurance bills looming, and we're starting to build our new house.  So...I'm feeling very selfish right now.

Oh, and what I posted above about the possibility of another preemie made me need to do a quick vent.  I was talking to someone this weekend about the fact that a future baby could be a preemie again, and they said "Well, everything turned out fine with Carter, so you could handle it again."  Yes, it turned out fine, but that doesn't mean it wasn't very stressful and that he can't still develop problems.  And also...a future preemie could be earlier or have more problems.  UGH.  It isn't/wasn't easy....don't you hate when people don't understand?

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Re: Feeling selfish

  • TriciaJoyTriciaJoy member

    I understand. I felt the same way (about getting rid of the clothes) but I ultimately took the leap of faith and donated the great majority of them back. I might kick myself if we have another preemie, but for now, I'm just going with it.

    I'll tell you what we did. For Robbies' 1st b-day I organized a donation event in his name to the NICU. I put it on our blogs and honestly, a ton of people sent a ton of stuff. People knitted hats, blankets, people sent scrapbooking stuff or children's books. I offered a 25 dollar Target GC as a prize- anyone who donated was entered int eh raffle. Then a few more people offered prizes as well.

    We ended up with a pretty nice haul of stuff. The NICU loved it.. It was SO much fun to take everything to them. The nurses started passing stuff out right away.

    anyway, you can always donate your time or knowledge.. which doesn't cost anything at all! Does your NICU have a parent volunteer organization at all? Donating your time to them would be a way to give back as well.

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  • mek10976mek10976

    We are in the same position as you - want to donate to the NICU, but hanging onto clothing and can't make a monetary committment right now.  So, until I can make a donation, I spread the word about how wonderful my NICU was and the overall hospital experience.  We have several excellent hospitals to choose from in our area.  I hope that one day I will be able to do more on a regular basis.

    And yes, I do hate it when people have no clue about the difficulty of having a preemie, even if the baby looks "fine".

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  • New WifeNew Wife
    i understand your feelings completely. i got rid of my preemmie clothes because i dont want to ever have to think/worry again even though we dont think we will try for another. i donated them and it felt really good to know that a family or two will get them when they dont want to have to spend the $$ on that. i can only imagine if someone had given me preemie clothes when i needed them, i sure could have used that $$ for the gas tank to drive to the hospital every day. i do plan to contribute $$ to the cause later and i am thinking about making blankets for pennies 4 preemies to send to families.
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  • clyoungseyclyoungsey
    imageTriciaJoy:

    I understand. I felt the same way (about getting rid of the clothes) but I ultimately took the leap of faith and donated the great majority of them back. I might kick myself if we have another preemie, but for now, I'm just going with it.

    I'll tell you what we did. For Robbies' 1st b-day I organized a donation event in his name to the NICU. I put it on our blogs and honestly, a ton of people sent a ton of stuff. People knitted hats, blankets, people sent scrapbooking stuff or children's books. I offered a 25 dollar Target GC as a prize- anyone who donated was entered int eh raffle. Then a few more people offered prizes as well.

    We ended up with a pretty nice haul of stuff. The NICU loved it.. It was SO much fun to take everything to them. The nurses started passing stuff out right away.

    anyway, you can always donate your time or knowledge.. which doesn't cost anything at all! Does your NICU have a parent volunteer organization at all? Donating your time to them would be a way to give back as well.

    Report Reply
  • clyoungseyclyoungsey
    imageTriciaJoy:

    I understand. I felt the same way (about getting rid of the clothes) but I ultimately took the leap of faith and donated the great majority of them back. I might kick myself if we have another preemie, but for now, I'm just going with it.

    I'll tell you what we did. For Robbies' 1st b-day I organized a donation event in his name to the NICU. I put it on our blogs and honestly, a ton of people sent a ton of stuff. People knitted hats, blankets, people sent scrapbooking stuff or children's books. I offered a 25 dollar Target GC as a prize- anyone who donated was entered int eh raffle. Then a few more people offered prizes as well.

    We ended up with a pretty nice haul of stuff. The NICU loved it.. It was SO much fun to take everything to them. The nurses started passing stuff out right away.

    anyway, you can always donate your time or knowledge.. which doesn't cost anything at all! Does your NICU have a parent volunteer organization at all? Donating your time to them would be a way to give back as well.

    I remember reading Robbie's birthday blog post.  It moved me to tears (of course my little boy was still in the NICU at the moment) I was so inspired by what you did!  So I have been ever since trying to figure out what to do to give back.

    I have donated over 1000 oz of breast milk to the milk bank that supplies milk to the NICU he graduated from, I am going to do a MOD walk, and I am doing a couple of books for the hospitals I was on bedrest at as well as donating magazines and fun stuff to keep the parents and moms to be busy.

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  • TriciaJoyTriciaJoy member
    imageclyoungsey:
    imageTriciaJoy:

    I understand. I felt the same way (about getting rid of the clothes) but I ultimately took the leap of faith and donated the great majority of them back. I might kick myself if we have another preemie, but for now, I'm just going with it.

    I'll tell you what we did. For Robbies' 1st b-day I organized a donation event in his name to the NICU. I put it on our blogs and honestly, a ton of people sent a ton of stuff. People knitted hats, blankets, people sent scrapbooking stuff or children's books. I offered a 25 dollar Target GC as a prize- anyone who donated was entered int eh raffle. Then a few more people offered prizes as well.

    We ended up with a pretty nice haul of stuff. The NICU loved it.. It was SO much fun to take everything to them. The nurses started passing stuff out right away.

    anyway, you can always donate your time or knowledge.. which doesn't cost anything at all! Does your NICU have a parent volunteer organization at all? Donating your time to them would be a way to give back as well.

    I remember reading Robbie's birthday blog post.  It moved me to tears (of course my little boy was still in the NICU at the moment) I was so inspired by what you did!  So I have been ever since trying to figure out what to do to give back.

    I have donated over 1000 oz of breast milk to the milk bank that supplies milk to the NICU he graduated from, I am going to do a MOD walk, and I am doing a couple of books for the hospitals I was on bedrest at as well as donating magazines and fun stuff to keep the parents and moms to be busy.

    That's amazing. 1000oz of breastmilk is worth more than anything money could buy!

     

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  • NotJustAnAuntieNotJustAnAuntie

    I took up a collection of handmade hats to celebrate Max's first birthday... I blogged about it, and asked for donations on my message boards (my local board here and a scrapbboking board I'm on)

    I got over 200 hats and delivering them to Max's primary the weekend after his birthday was a BLAST!

    Here's Max, hanging out with the hats:

    image 

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  • lemen99lemen99 member

    I personally would donate the clothes, but, that's a decision you have to make!  :)

    Oh I hate it when people say that.  They are soooo ignorant.

     

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