We're halfway there! Almost a hundred bags packed for the baby showers we are throwing for the NICUs here in the Tampa Bay area and still just over a hundred to go. We started packing the bags on Sunday (oh, for about 4 hours!) and all the moms in our group brought a lot of stuff with them, it was wonderful! We are still waiting on items that a few groups have started collecting. The one thing we were missing most was girl items, so I think I know just what I'm getting with the donations I've received from you! (There's still time to donate to the showers if you are so inclined -- right there, up on my sidebar!)
Our first shower is next Tuesday and it's at the hospital where my son was born. I haven't been back to the NICU there since he was born, even though my second baby was born at that hospital too. Since my second son was born on the first floor, I completely ignored the second floor where the NICU is and left the hospital without even so much as a glance at it. I think I must've been relieved that my second son was born late, just as I had prayed for, and didn't want to go back to that place in my head.
So there we are! That's me on the right and my amazing friend Jen (the taller one) on the left. We've been friends for years and we both had early babies. I'm excited to see everything coming together for the showers and I hope it'll all go smoothly next week. I'm sure it will. We have such wonderful hands helping. There are still some mommies in our group who are healing from the experience of having an early baby and everything is still really raw for them, so I know that this is therapeutic for them, too. What a gift it is for everyone in our group to be able to do this. This year, the theme for the March of Dimes is "Fight for Preemies." And as we walk the walk next year, that's what we'll be doing. For now, we're fighting for the families too. What I really hope for is that even one mom knows that someone is there for her as she walks this scary road and if that happens, I know we've done some good.
