NICU thank you baskets
My first baby was born very unexpectedly at 34 weeks and 2 days. We made our way to the little New Mexico hospital about an hour from our home, and were told that they didn't keep babies less than 36 weeks. I was laboring fast, and they told me that if they had more time they'd be transporting me via helicopter to a bigger hospital in Albuquerque. Once she was born, they decided to keep her there. We spent 12 days in the hospital with her before she was finally discharged.
There's something to be said about smaller hospitals. It's like a small town. You get to know people. We had the same nurses over and over again during our stay. My labor and delivery nurse was also the hospital's lactation consultant. I'm still Facebook friends with a few of our nurses from that stay.
I remember coming back to the hospital once for a lactation appointment and I brought them a platter of Subway sandwiches. It felt like the least I could do to thank them for their companionship and care throughout our stay.
Then I was pregnant for my third baby. I went into preterm labor at 31 weeks and was kept on the high risk unit for three weeks before he was born. Then he had a 30-day NICU stay. We spent nearly two months in the hospital, and I got to know those nurses, too.
I also wanted to do something for his nurses. I talked to a few family members and friends that are nurses and asked them what their favorite thank-you gifts have been, or what something would be that they would actually enjoy receiving. The answers were simple: snacks, caffeine, and sharpies or highlighters for their lanyards.
I designed the thank you tags in Canva, and modeled them after one of my favorite outfits that Rhys has worn. I then designed a little Thank You sign and put paintings that the girls have done through the printer and taped those to the side of the bins. I included a photo of Rhys (I also heard that they like to see the babies growing and thriving), and attached it with the cutest tassel paper clips that I found at Dollar Tree.
In all, I put together three baskets: one for the antepartum unit where I stayed, and two for the NICU. I wasn't sure how I was going to carry them all into the hospital, so I took my city select double stroller without the seats and piled them all into its bottom basket. It worked great, but I felt like a little bit of a lunatic pushing an empty stroller around the hospital after I dropped the baskets off, ha.
I'm not a huge grand gestures person-- small gestures are more my speed. I like to do small things often for the people that I love, and I hope that these give just a tiny sense of how grateful we are for the care that we received this summer.
Beverages
Frap // Espresso // Izze
Blue Bins: Dollar Tree
Similar here // here // and here
Lanyard Markers: Amazon
Yarn: Michael's
Tassel paper clips: Dollar Tree
Thank you tags: designed by me in Canva
Thank you sign: painted by my girls and then ran through the printer for words
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