Having an Infant in NICU
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Care Package for Friend with Preemie in NICU
Sept 2008
I have a friend in Chicago who just had her first baby at 30 weeks. He'll be in the NICU for a couple of months and I wanted to do something helpful for her but I can't go out to visit. Does anyone have recommendations for a care package or other gift that would be particularly helpful for new parents with a baby who'll be in the NICU for a long period of time? S.
Instead of a ''care package'' how about hiring someone to clean their house, do laundry, etc. Also getting meals for them. there are some companies like 3 Potatoe 4 who will bring wonderful organic meals to their home, on whatever schedule best suits their needs, every day, every other day, whatever. If this is a bigger financial committment than you can take on, you could get together with other friends/family members & pool your funds. These *gifts* will relieve them from some of the burdens of trying to manage the household while spending as much time as possible w/the baby. Deborah
Food...Either food delivery or gift certificates for casual restaurants (better if you can get take-out) will be much appreciated. It is a long haul and the last thing you feel like doing after a day/evening at the NICU is cook. Anon
Food! Most new parents, and especially very stressed new parents will appreciate the thoughtfulness of some sort of healthy food that they don't have to prepare for themselves. Given that your friend is in a different state, this may be a bit of a challenge, but perhaps you can use the power of the internet or the assistance of one of their family members to make it happen. For example, some of those meal prep places offer already-prepared meals that can be picked up and heated up at home, or check out restaurant delivery services such as grubhub.com or takeout taxi. L
I agree that food deliveries are a great idea, but want to suggest something different. When I ended up with a preemie, I had not done ANY shopping for baby gear, let alone any research on what I would even need. How about asking the parents what they still need and offer to research, i.e. where to get a certain model of a crib for the best price, or buy a diaper bag and diapers and a diaper pail, or anything they might not have in the nursery yet. You could pool with other friends again. NICU time is really stressful
a box of soft kleenex, a pedicure, lunch brought to the hospital, a book about preemies, and a box of ''emergen-C'' former nicu mom