Anne mentioned the eye guard she made from a red bandanna and took to bed so it would smell of her. She instructed the staff to remove it if anything painful or uncomfortable was to be done to her baby.
What have/do/did you do for your baby?
Please Email me me with any ideas that you can add.
I remember placing a "heavy" toy on her back when I had to leave. Having my hands on her then removing them to go home seemed to unnerve her.
Tamie
I would make tapes of myself talking or singing so they could be played to my kids when I wasn't there. I also took a blanket to bed and the made sure my little one had it in their bed.
Rebecca
We would place a beanie baby on Colin's back---he loved that feeling!
Angela- Mom to Gregory, Caroline, and Colin
With Aisling, it was a beanie baby on her head! She had the jellyfish one (Goochy, I think) and she loved it when we put it on her head and arranged the legs (is that what they're called?) so they fell all around her head. One of the nurses found accidentally
discovered she liked that one day and after that, that's what we did when we had to put her back into her isolette.
I forgot about this, but my MIL made Aisling an isolette cover (Precious Moments). We also had pics of her siblings taped to the outside (facing in) which made me feel good, even if she didn't care. :) The cover was a great thing. We use it as a blanket now.
Stephanie, mom to Aisling, almost 1 year!!! :)
I also placed a beanie baby with Kaylie it was Fleece the lamb the nurse arranged the lamb 2 where it would cuddle up with Kaylie and it comforted her.
She is now 4 months old and still sleeps with it. I put it on her tummy when she sleeps at night. It makes her feel as if I'm touching her all night long.
The lamb was a gift from one of her nurse's in NICU. It was used when she learned how to turn her head, when she was on the vent the nurse would put the lamb on her
head to keep her from extubataing. When I would hold Kaylie in NICU I would hold her lamb also to get my scent on it. I really believe it did my little
angel good knowing that in some way or another mommy was always there..
Tiffany mother 2 Kaylie 25 weeker
The best thing we did for our son Matthew was my mom made his own isolette cover. I had purchased some extra fabric for what we were decorating his room in (Moon Doggie Royal by California Kids) for curtains so she used some and created a small comforter that fit perfectly over the isolette. Not only did it block more light than the other blankets they used but it added that personal touch we needed to see. We still have it draped over his basinette at home.
Pam C.
Matthew John 3/25/00
http://www.primenet.com/~pammyk
We had Doby the doberman beanie. The beanies were given to all babies in the NICU by the Beanies for Preemies organization. At first when I laid it on
Tess' back, it was the same length as her! The first time she looked at it, she got a strange look on her face, it was like "is this my brother?" She
and Michael had not seen each other yet at that point since both were still in isolettes. They both still sleep w/their beanies, when they get fussy I curl the beanies around the tops of their heads!
Edwina
Michael & Tess (10 wks old, 30 wkrs)
We--Sam, me, Luke, and Jake--made a tapes of us on a micro-recorder singing songs and reading rhyming storybooks for Zeke. The NICU nurses played it whenever we weren't there. HE LOVED IT! We lived more than an hour away, so it made me feel much better about having
to leave him there. When we were there, we talked to him constantly-- unless it disturbed him--which was seldom.
Tracy
What I did for Rohilla was 'making' her own 'sheets' by wearing a t-shirt for a day and use that as the bottom sheet on top of the sheepskin in the incubator. That way she always had my smell around her - she still loves my perfume;-)) and still has the torn bits from the t-shirts wrapped around her dummy as soothener before she falls asleep and she's nearly three now!
Love Jacqueline, mummy to Rohilla, born at 32 weeks, weighing 940 grams and 36 cm in height and now the greatest totally bi-langual love of my life!
Bringing a small cassette tape recorder, with a tape of
my voice, made especially for my Mookie, from his mommy. I felt like it was just a small way of maintaining the bond between us when I had to go through the gut-wrenching hours of separation from him (I had to go home sometimes--I had other children at home). I listened to music and sang all of the time while I was pregnant, so I wanted to continue that for him. Personally, I'm a fan of old rhythm and blues. My son was probably the only baby in the NICU listening to Smokey Robinson, but that's what he would be familiar with (and still is!). It proved to actually be therapeutic for me. I would sing to him, and just talk directly to him, and read some of my favorite passages. I still have the tape in safekeeping for him. **One small note, the sound level in the isolettes is amplified so you have to be very careful that the decibel level does not go beyond a safe level for your little ones hearing. Remember that there nervous systems are not fully equipped to handle to much stimuli. The goal should be to offset some of the possible damage that is caused by necessary procedures and the NICU environment. Perhaps wrapping the recorder
in a blanket would help. Also the nurse was very good about playing the recorder for him at times, such as during procedures.
********************NOT SO GOOD ****************
This section is a follow up on the "GOOD things" I had done for my preemie.
I am just trying to get good ideas out there for our newbies to have the BEST preemie experience possible. There is room for a little pain coming from things "NOT DONE" or "SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE". If this is too painful please skip it. I do not wish to cause unnecessary pain. Please Email me with any ideas that you have to add to this section!
I wish had not avoided her chart. I wish I had pushed for more information from the Dr's. I wish I had found and used a "PREEMIE Baby book". I wish I had not stifled DH's voice in the NICU.
Tamie
I wish I was more (preemie smart) I wish I knew what I was going 2 be expecting after I had her. I had no idea the heart ache I would go through with her.
I know this may sound horrible but at times I wished they would just let her go. We almost lost her several times.
I knew she was hurting and I wanted her hurting to stop. We were all with her when she fought to stay alive. What she went through to be here with me...
Now that I have her here with me I'm glad they worked so hard keeping her here and most of all I'm glad she fought so hard to be with me. I regret ever wishing them to let her go but I didn't want her to hurt any more. I wish those thoughts would have never entered my mind.
I wish I would have know then how much I love her now.. Please what ever you do don't ever give up on your child I never did. Even though life at times
seemed so unfair. I was so scared for her that is why I believe I felt the way I did. I wished I would have had the strength my husband had when things would go wrong. Instead I always fell apart.
But the day my little angel came home was the day my wishes really came true all along I just wanted her home where she would be safe and I could love her and hold her as much as I wanted.
Now as I look back I'm glad not all my wishes came true. Because if they did I wouldn't have her here with me today. She is my life, my angel, my heart, my soul. I couldn't bare to lose her..
Tiffany mother of Kaylie 25 weeker 1 lb. 12 oz at
birth
I wish I would have put pictures of Dh and I up in her isolette. We never did that, and I regret not doing it now. For those parents who are afraid of getting involved in your babies care, take a big step forward and get involved as quickly as you can. It really helps to be an active participant in the care. Good luck to all. MelissaMom to Lydia, 24 weeker 1lb 9oz, 11.5 inchesNow 7 mos old (3.5 adjusted)12lb 2 oz, 24.5 inches
I just wanted to reiterate... Definitely pick up that chart and also challenge anyone who dares to say you can't see it. We too, studied our baby's chart on a daily basis. We also questioned anything we did not understand or wanted a better explanation for. With all of the babies the NICU sees they really appreciate parents who are involved. We were very involved with our babies care. When we moved from NICU down to Progressive Care, we were told by a new nurse that she had heard about us and how she knew we knew what to do with our daughter so she would just leave her in our care. That is very important. I also believe it played a part in them releasing her 9 days before due date at 3.5 lbs.
Jason, I totally agree, even now I look through Taylor's chart every chance I get. When TJ was still in NICU though, there was a baby that was in there 9 months, and the parents had been there once, and they lived in the city that the hospital was in! Here we were making a 500 mile one way trip once a week leaving three other kids at home to go see him. We never missed a week.
