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Giving Back for NICU Giving Day

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This spring I watched my nephew struggle with Respiratory Distress Syndrome and a pneumothorax for nearly three weeks in our local neonatal intensive care unit. Having lost five of my own children, it was such a scary time for our family. Thankfully, with the help and loving care of the hospital doctors, nurses and staff, he came home and is a happy, healthy boy. I was excited to help my sister-in-law give back to the NICU who cared for her son in celebration of NICU Giving Day. I’d love to share more about how Kaylie gave back this year as well as a big thank you to all of the businesses who donated to these gift baskets.

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Everett’s Story

(Told by Everett’s mom, Kaylie): My son, Everett, was born on April 13th of this year and experienced some complications that kept him in our local NICU for almost three weeks. We will always be so grateful for the amazing nurses and doctors who took such great care of him.

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There was one nurse in particular that left such a lasting impact on our family. Steve was with Everett in his most critical days and he was such a calming presence. He took his time to explain everything to us and it was always very clear that he cared for Everett greatly. We later found out he would come into his room and sing to him. That will always make my heart happy.

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A few ago I learned that September was Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness month. When I discovered that September 27th was NICU Giving Day, I immediately started brainstorming what I could try to prepare and asked my sister in law, Janelle, to assist me.

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I decided to make baskets for the families currently in the NICU and also prepared other items to go to the hospital directly. I began reaching out to many companies and I told them our story and what I hoped to accomplish. Much to my surprise, many companies were excited to help me out and quickly sent their donations. I am so very thankful to these wonderful companies for their donations and support. In the end, I had 11 companies send various items.

Thank you to our NICU Giving Day Sponsors!

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart to all these companies for your generosity. I loved being able to prepare these donations and give back to the NICU at St.Mary’s/Essentia Health Duluth who were able to help my little boy get healthy again!

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  • Little Neetchers – muslin swaddle blankets, scratch mitts, outfit sets, and punch cards for their store
  • Munchkin – 2 teethers, Lulla Vibe vibrating pad, flash card toy, Bobble Bee toy, Nursery Projector and Sound System, and Mozart Magic Cube toy
  • Milkmakers – 100 samples of their original lactation tea
  • Dapple – samples of laundry soap and dish soap
  • L’ovedbaby – 20 different outfit sets that included blankets, hats, and a variety of onesies
  • Aden and Anais – 5 boxes of their 4 pack muslin swaddling blankets
  • WubbaNub – 20 tan bear WubbaNub
  • Crane USA – chapstick packages along with promo codes and Curtis the Cow Cool Mist Humidifier
  • Woombie – 20 preemie organic baby swaddlers
  • Halo – 15 newborn swaddle sleepsacks
  • Medela – 1 Pump in Style Advanced breast pump set

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It was such a blessing to accompany Kaylie as she delivered these beautiful baskets and was able to personally thank nurse Steve. To see Everett absolutely light up upon seeing him was such a blessing. These doctors, nurses and NICU staff give such a gift in the care they give to these babies and their families.

Donations made by my family in memory of the children that we lost (Alice, Elliot and Alexis), were used to buy equipment for our beautiful new NICU facility in Duluth, MN. It’s a joy for me to know that although we never made it to the NICU with them, in some small way their memory helped save the life of my nephew.

nicu-giving-day-2016-blessed-with-more

While we were making donations at the NICU I also made a donation of loss materials. Sadly not all babies are able to come home from the hospital. Although they don’t get to leave with their baby, my hope is that they never leave with empty arms. I create memory boxes and provide bears for these grieving families (blessedwithmore.com).

It was wonderful to see my sister-in-law give these beautiful gift baskets to the families who DO get to go home with their precious children. Please consider giving back to your own NICU or birthplace!

Disclosure: Items listed were donated fully by each business listed. We received nothing for our time sharing and simply love to give back and would like to thank these wonderful sponsors. All thoughts are our own.

One Comment

  1. What a great story and good to know all turned out well. What a nice thing to do to give back to the NICU. So nice that so many companies helped out and donated.

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