Mom Stages - NICU

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Pictures of Hope is a wonderful, heartfelt resource for NICU Parents. What makes this organization more special is that many of the people involved are former NICU Parents.

This charitable organization of professional photographers from the United States and Canada provide complimentary, documentary-style, photography sessions to babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and their families.

Read on to discover more about this incredible service these generous photographers provide for NICU parents.

Read more: Pictures of Hope: A Wonderful Resource for NICU Parents

Mom Stages - NICU

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One way to find hope is to hear or read stories of other babies who were in the NICU and have gone on to become successful, NICU survivors and inspirational children and adults.

The stories of former NICU babies are just a few that I have collected. Be sure to add your own NICU survivor story in the comments.

Read more: Hope in the NICU: Stories of NICU Survivors

Mom Stages - NICU

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With a baby in the NICU, often times the last thing that anyone is focusing on is figuring out a gift to give to the new baby.

Even though it is hard on parents having a baby in the NICU, it also hard for NICU parents not to feel the support of family and friends, because they are not receiving gifts to celebrate their new baby.

My advise (and the advise of other former NICU Parents) is to send a gift to the NICU Parent or NICU baby, to show your love and support.

Read more: Gift Suggestions for NICU Babies

Mom Stages - NICU

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Christmas is a time when people think they will be "merry" and have "happy holidays" but these can be challenging emotions for NICU parents to feel. They are spending their baby's first Christmas in the hospital, in the NICU, rather than at home with the family.

Fortunately, there are people who understand the situation that NICU parents find themselves and out of the goodness of their heart, perhaps the true spirit of Christmas, find ways to make spending Christmas in the NICU a bit merrier.

Read on to discover some of the many ways that "Santa's helpers" are helping NICU Parents spend a happier Christmas in the NICU.

Read more: Making it a Merry Christmas in the NICU

Mom Stages - NICU

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Having a NICU baby is difficult enough for NICU Parents, but when that birth and hospitalization coincide with a holiday like Christmas, it can make it even more challenging.

Seeing everyone going around being cheerful can make it hard for NICU Parents to cope with their own reality – being in the NICU with their newborn.

By letting in a bit of the Christmas Spirit to celebrate the season, NICU Parents may be able to brightening the lives of the NICU staff and other NICU Parents can make this time in the NICU easier to cope with and make it through a NICU hospitalization. 

Read more: Tips for Celebrating and Coping with Christmas in the NICU

Mom Stages - NICU

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When a baby gets admitted to the NICU many times everyone focuses on the health of the baby and the mother (depending on the circumstances of the delivery). Often the last thing on people's minds are giving a gift to the NICU Parents or to the new NICU baby.

Yet the fact that a baby has been born prematurely or has been hospitalized in the NICU should not deter family and friends from getting a gift for the NICU Parents to celebrate the occasion.

There are three separate types of gifts that one can give to NICU Parents: gifts of presence, practical gifts and gifts that are presents. Since it is the holiday season, this article will focus on gifts that are presents. Future articles will focus on gifts of presence and practical gifts.

Read more: Gift Suggestions for NICU Parents

Mom Stages - NICU

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Thanksgiving is a day set aside to express our gratitude and give thanks, yet for parents who have a baby in the NICU at Thanksgiving, taking time to give thanks can be a challenging.

For this Thanksgiving, I searched for ways that other people have found to help NICU Parents give thanks even when their Thanksgiving is celebrated in the NICU.

Discover some of the ways that some very generous people are helping NICU Parents give thanks at Thanksgiving.

Read more: Giving Thanks Even when Thanksgiving is in the NICU

Mom Stages - NICU

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The Virtual Human Milk Collection Campaign is being sponsored by the Medela company to honor the March of Dimes' National Prematurity Awareness Month and the thousands of dedicated Neonatal healthcare professionals nationwide.

The Medela company focuses on helping mothers, including NICU mothers to successfully breastfeed their babies and to do so for as long as they choose.

NICU Parents, families and friends can vote for their favorite NICU to receive Medela products or educational services. Four NICU's from four geographic regions will receive at least $5,000 each worth of Medela products or education services for their facility to help NICU mothers continue to provide their babies with breast milk.

Read more: Vote for Your NICU in the Virtual Human Milk Collection Campaign

Mom Stages - NICU

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More NICU Parents (who are also Grey's Anatomy fans) may want to use Kangaroo Care as a treatment for their NICU Baby after watching a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy.

This week the top rated Abc.com show featured a story line about Kangaroo Care in the November 5, 2009 episode "Invest in Love."  

While the television episode featuring Kangaroo Care has the usual dramatic portrayals, the actors on the show are still demonstrating a very real and very beneficial technique that helps premature babies.

Read more: Grey's Anatomy Features Using Kangaroo Care in the NICU

Mom Stages - NICU

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Keeping some kind of a written record of your baby's NICU adventure is recommended way of making it a bit easier for parents to cope with the NICU. Two ways of keeping a record are by keeping a written diary or by creating a scrapbook.

Many of the traditional baby scrapbook resources do not lend themselves to creating a scrapbook for preemies and NICU babies. They don't have words or images for experiences that NICU Parents face. Fortunately, some former NICU parents have developed scrapbook resources for NICU parents to create NICU scrapbooks.

Read more: Scrapbooking in the NICU - Another Creative Way to Cope