And so the journey begins…
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Ash Wednesday 2011
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Remembering Saints Perpetua & Felicity
PREEMIE PRINTS Part III: VISIONS AND FUTURE DREAMS
I close my eyes and see myself waking up on Christmas morning to deliver handmade ornaments to surrounding NICU’s. I see Preemie Prints serving dinners and breakfasts to families and hosting “NICU Night Outs” where moms and dads can take a break from the hospital and visit with other parents going through a similar experience. I see us helping families with hotel rentals and transportation costs when they are stretched to the max financially because of their NICU bills. I see us honoring the nurses and Doctors who do so much for these tiny babies. I see the Lord expanding this organization to other areas and states where NICU grad parents can get involved. I envision NICU grad families empowered with the spirit, and I hope to encourage them to use it to help others just starting their journey.
Somewhere deep in my thoughts, I see this quaint comforting cottage style house for parents of preemies. Not a sterile hospital environment but a warm and cozy house within minutes of their babies. I see breakfast served every morning, a pumping room for moms, a prayer room, a NICU and Preemie library, computers, hammocks, and peaceful sleeping quarters. I see a place specifically for these families to utilize while they are away from home yearning to remain very close to their preemies. Looking back to our NICU stay, I remember holding one of my twins and a mom sharing our room was crying. I asked her if she was ok and she said yes but she lived 3 hours away and wouldn’t be able to return for a few days. I can’t imagine that, thankfully I lived only 20 minutes away, but that situation exists and sadly happens all of the time. Ultimately we also hope to fund medical research for preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality where life and the research are equal in priority. I thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to present Preemie Prints to you and to share some of my dreams. I ask that you consider us the next time you choose a charity to support and more than that I ask that you read through our website and pray for us. Please visit our prayer page at help pray for premature babies who are fighting for their lives as I type this. God bless each of you!
Preemie Prints is a non profit organization offering information, support, complimentary photography, gift bags, and prayer to families who have a premature or ill baby in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Preemie Prints Part II: Our mission and what we are doing now
I look at what lays ahead and the responsibility that comes along with what we are doing, and all I can do is thank the Lord that I have him to guide and lean on. I don’t have to be overwhelmed with anything. I take everything, except the prayer and support, lightly. My motto is trust in the Lord and what is meant to be will be. So as I write “my vision” for Preemie Prints please remember this is only what I see when I close my eyes. It may be God’s vision or The Spirit may have different plans entirely. I am perfectly at peace to wait and see!
The mission of Preemie Prints is to share hope with moms and families who have a premature or sick baby in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). Merriam’s definition of hope is “to cherish a desire with anticipation, to expect with confidence”. I feel that defines our mission perfectly which is why after much prayer I chose to focus on the word hope. Hope is what these moms and families need to hold on to. We want to encourage moms, bring a smile to their face, listen to them, and in the midst of their “roller coaster of emotions” we want to make sure they remain hopeful even when faced with an extremely serious and scary situation. I know that is easier said than done, but that is why organizations like ours exist. The nurses in a NICU are wonderful but really their purpose is to provide care for the baby. A hospital may have one or two social workers on staff but their time is spread thin. We exist, guided by the Lord, as advocates for the families and especially the moms!
We offer 5 ways to share hope through Preemie Prints. The first way is information. Each mom will feel more involved and more like parenting in a NICU situation if they are informed. Most moms have just delivered a baby naturally or by csection, hormones are raging, moms are often on medication, extremely fatigued, and yet expected to bond with their baby. The last thing thing on their mind is researching NICU information. However, if they were provided with it, they would really be more equipped and better able to face this time in their life. We help by having the most up to date information all in one place on our information blog and included in an information binder in their NICU gift bag, which they are provided upon their baby’s admittance. The gift bag contains many items to help transition mom and baby into the NICU. Another way we offer hope is through the gift of complimentary photography to help preserve memories. A mom’s experience in a NICU with her premature baby will empower her for the rest of her life. Pictures will help to keep the experience from fading away and also are therapeutic during the time they are their. Pictures help with bonding, help to later decrease postpardum depression, and can even help with milk production when a mom can’t be with her baby. We really encourage moms to take pictures along their journey. Next is our support system which is made up of one on one meetings with moms, a support group, message board, online chat by appointment, facebook page, and emails that can be sent anytime of day. Last but certainly most important is prayer. We have a prayer page that we invite all families with a premature baby to utilize and we invite everyone reading this to join in prayer with us. I have established a large network of prayer partners nation wide who are checking our prayer page daily and praying for our babies. The Lord truly created this page for preemies. I hope one day we are praying for babies world wide.
HOPE THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY, SUPPORT, AND PRAYER!
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ST. JOHN JOSEPH OF THE CROSS
Self-denial should lead us to charity—not to bitterness; it should help us clarify our priorities and make us more loving.
Our Greatest Weapon
Our greatest weapon is the Holy Rosary and the sacraments.
Please let us know how we can include you in our prayers today.
How a Mom of Preemies Begins a Ministry of LOVE & HOPE (Part I)
Please welcome Amber from Preemie Prints Ministry as she shares her story from the cross to God’s merciful gift of love.
The founding of Preemie Prints-Part I
I woke up January 1, 2011 with this urge to search the internet. I do that a lot! I am a researcher always looking for inspiring information. I’m also a photographer and recently received a new DSLR camera as a gift. I had settled in with a cup of coffee to research photographers and look at inspiring pictures, which is one of my favorite pass times. I am going to interject a little background information here:
I had identical twin girls one year ago. They are dolls and have changed me as a person from the moment they were born. However, we had a very rough start together! My blood pressure had been rising slowly over the last trimester of my pregnancy, and when I went in to see my Dr. for my 32 week appointment it had spiked. My Dr. diagnosed me with preeclampsia, a condition in which high blood pressure develops after 20 weeks. It can be very dangerous for both mother and child, so this condition is a major cause of premature birth. I was promptly admitted into the hospital and she delivered my twins at 33 weeks.
My girls were in the NICU for 4 weeks. The experience of parenting in an NICU with premature babies is life changing. I didn’t know it at the time but over the past months, I have realized that statement to be true. Once we got home the chaos didn’t end. Both girls were hooked up to apnea monitors for their breathing. I was having to change sensor pads and figure out how best to attach them to their tiny bodies and extremely sensitive skin. All while pumping milk for them every 4 hours, not getting near enough sleep, and wondering if they would breath through the night. Over the next months I developed post pardum depression and that was a whole new level of scary. First time mom, surgery, NICU, preemies, pumping milk, apnea, and now depression? It was a roller coaster, but thankfully in the midst of the chaos I stayed strong in my prayer life. I prayed often to St. Philomena and St. Gianna Molla; I know they were with me.
From the time my twins were about 3 months up until January 1 of this year, I knew I had a calling to do something with preemies and the NICU. I am not a nurse or a Doctor so I prayed about what this calling might be for a compassionate creative artist like me. Fast forward to 1-1. I’m sitting at my computer researching and looking at pictures, and I come across an amazing image of a tiny preemie holding tightly onto her mom’s finger.
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| preemie holding momma’s finger |
All of a sudden like a powerful yet peaceful wave crashing over me God touches my soul. I know in an instant that this is what I am supposed to do…this is the answer to my calling. I had just been given a DSLR camera, I love creating memories, I love preemies, I want to help people and offer them support, I am prayerful and compassionate, and I know full heartedly that at some point all of these things will come together to form a ministry for God. He honestly worked just like that. In a moment, through a picture of a preemie holding her mom’s finger, just as I had done one year ago with my preemies. In that moment, in spite of any reservations about the timing and our financial situation, I knew this was the beginning of the answer to my novena. Just like God usually works, it was very unexpected.
Having this new passion and God in full control of it led to very fast developments. Over the next month Preemie Prints was formed. The website, idea, story, and organization miraculously took shape. People were being brought together in unexplainable ways, inspiring stories were being shared, relationships were being formed, and I was in awe of it. In the past I always wondered, when God was in complete control, if I ever fully surrendered, would I feel restricted? I find the answer is simply no. I have felt more free over the past two months than ever before. I feel happier, inspired, trusting, and loved. I have felt moments of fear when it all seems to be happening fast and then I wonder things like “what if this doesn’t work”, “what if people don’t like or support this ministry”. Then, I realize it is the devil battling God’s work. When this happens I stop and pray. I pray novenas and I pray every day for God to do with this ministry as He so chooses and to not let my human hands corrupt it in any way. I pray for purity. I know I am doing God’s work through being a wife and mother and now through Preemie Prints. This is what I was meant for here on earth. My twins, the difficulties that came along with their birth, a fondness for creating memories, and a momentary life changing spark is how this ministry came to be.
To be continued… Part II: Our Mission and Future
Happy Saint Valentine’s Day!
This is how much God loves YOU!
Perpetual Adoration, don’t miss a moment together.
The Thomas Dress
Imogen never had a new dress until her brother died.
She was five years old and although she had plenty of pretty clothes, she’d never had a dress chosen especially for her, a dress that hadn’t previously been worn by her older sister or cousins. It was a very special day, the day we went to town to buy Imogen her first brand new dress.
As soon as we entered the children’s boutique, we saw the perfect dress. Imogen held it up under her chin, her eyes large, her smile wide. It was pale pink with puffed sleeves and the skirt was perfect for swirling. A Briar Rose dress. A real little girl dress.
The shop assistant hurried up to us. “Oh, you will look so pretty in that dress. Is it for a special occasion?”
“Yes,” Imogen replied. “It’s for my brother’s funeral.”
Thomas’ death was not a sad time for Imogen. She was the only member of our family who didn’t cry during those traumatic days. The photographs show her smile beaming out amidst the tears of her siblings and her parents.
Shortly after Thomas died, we gathered together our other children and explained that Thomas was now in heaven with God. Imogen replied, “Then why are you crying? It’s good. Thomas is alive with God. Don’t you want to go to heaven and be with God?” I remember wondering how Thomas’ death could be good. It didn’t feel good. Perhaps all that about heaven and going to God was just a pretence: something said to comfort bereaved parents.
There wasn’t a lot we could do for our son. Unlike other newborn babies, he didn’t need us. But we could give him a beautiful funeral. This would be the last event of his short life on earth and I was determined to make the most of it. Of course, it was very distressing farewelling a baby we’d only had with us for a day. We’d had such hopes for his future and now there was no future. But even though I couldn’t prevent the constant flow of tears, I didn’t want his funeral to pass in a blur of sorrow. I wanted to remember every moment. I wanted it to go on forever. However, like all events it came to an end and before we knew it, we were processing towards his open grave.
Father Francis carried Thomas’ tiny coffin. He held it so reverently as if he were carrying something very precious. Afterwards, he confided to us what an honour it was carrying our son; he could feel a special presence; he was carrying a saint.
There were many families at Thomas’ funeral. Children of all ages gathered around the grave. There were little girls everywhere, skipping among the tombstones like pretty butterflies, their pastel dresses swirling, their hair ribbons fluttering, their hair streaming out behind them in the breeze. Despite severe frowns from solemn parents, single flowers were gathered from graves until each little girl had a beautiful posy. And surrounded by all her fellow butterflies Imogen was having a perfect day. There she was in her new pink dress with all her friends, enjoying the spring sunshine as if she were on a picnic.
Thomas’ funeral was beautiful. So many friends and members of family shared this painful but special day with us. The charming old church was full; the music was hauntingly stirring; the homily was moving. But one of the most beautiful of all my memories is that of Imogen dancing between the graves as if she were celebrating the short life and death of her tiny brother.
Death is a normal part of life. It is extremely sorrowful, excruciatingly painful. However, it is not something dark, something to be hidden away. While we were mourning the loss of our son, it was so consoling to be reminded that there was still beauty in life: a glimmer of hope for the future.
A few years after Thomas’ death, Imogen’s goldfish died. She cried as if her heart were breaking. I was a bit bemused. “You didn’t cry when your brother died, “I remarked. “Why are you so sad now?”
“I didn’t understand then, Mum. Even though Thomas was going to God it was still sad. I would have cried if I’d been older”. She wouldn’t have thought only of her new dress.
We have still got that dress. We call it The Thomas Dress. Imogen loved that pale pink creation. Charlotte in her turn wore it. Although she had only been two when Thomas died, she knew it was a very special dress. The dress is a little faded now. Sophie and Gemma-Rose will not get to wear it. But we will keep the dress. It connects a sister to a brother. I will always remember Imogen skipping along in it, a ray of sunshine falling on that day of grief.
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Our Lady of Lourdes
Happy Feast Day and happy 3rd anniversary to H.T. Blog
“The Lady was standing above the rose-tree, in a position very similar to that shown in the miraculous medal. At my third request her face became very serious and she seemed to bow down in an attitude of humility. Then she joined her hands and raised them to her breast . . . She looked up to heaven . . . then slowly opening her hands and leaning forward towards me, she said to me in a voice vibrating with emotion, ‘I Am The Immaculate Conception (Que Soy Era Immaculate Councepcion).’“
The Apostolate of Hannah's Tears 