I know that after the birth of a preemie, you may have already spent months in the NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and you are tired.
You want nothing more than to just get back to real life and enjoy this precious little one that you have anguished over for months.
But, can you give just a little bit more? When we were in the NICU for nearly 3 months with our little Ava, we noticed that there were many parents who could barely afford to come and visit their little ones, let alone try to dress them.
By far the greater number of infants in the NICU belonged to families of lower income brackets.
We were told that they often ended up in the NICU, because really good prenatal care was a luxury rather than a necessity.
My heart went out to these families.
I couldn't even imagine not being able to be with your child 24/7 because hanging on to your job in order to keep a roof over your head or food on the table had to take precedence.
There was one family that stands out in my mind during our NICU stay.
This family was in for even longer than we were, and we rarely ever saw them.
When we did, they were every bit as loving with their little girl as we were.
It wasn't that they did not want to be with her, it was that they could not.
In order to see their child they took a long bus ride, which was only something that time afforded them to do on the weekend and maybe only one day.
I couldn't imagine how painful it must have been to stay away for such long periods of time.
But, as I said before, just being able to visit their little one in the NICU was a luxury, dressing their child was something they could only dream of.
Can you imagine that? Here, in the land of over abundance? Should a parent have to forgo the very simple please of being able to dress their child? Isn't that a basic instinct to provide for your child? I wanted to help, and we did at the time.
It wasn't a lot, but the joy it brought the family was great indeed, and that in turn gave us much happiness.
Since our experience with Ava, I have opened a store that supplies clothing and accessories for preemies in the NICU.
Not to long ago, I had one lady purchase a whole number of things.
The quantity was rather large and varied.
I thought she had had multiple births, but through some correspondence we had, I found out she was buying for numerous other babies in the NICU as well as for her own little girl.
I thought this was so amazing! What a lovely gift to be able to share with others like that.
So, I got to thinking.
Not everyone can afford to dress everyone else's children, even if they wanted to.
BUT, could you be in a position to donate the special preemie clothing that you are now done using to other families.
I have no doubt in my mind the great joy that would come to not only you, but the families who receive your clothes.
So please, if you would like to share what you can, please email me a avababys@hotmail.
com or stop by my website and go to, "Donating Preemie Clothes".
Something so simple can bring so much happiness.