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Preemie Prints is a non profit organization sharing hope with families who have a premature or sick baby in a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) through information, support, complimentary photography, gift bags, and prayer.
This facebook group is a national private group for past and present NICU families. It is a private place to connect, offer each other support, and ask questions regarding topics related to prematurity and life in a neonatal intensive care unit. In addition to our primary NICU group we also have a private angel group, created especially for parents who have lost a baby. Please let us know that you would like to be added to the angel group upon joining.
Our mission, inspired by the premature birth of my twin girls, is to support NICU families through a unique system that offers HOPE. We want families to be able to spend more time with their babies in the NICU. As developmental care in the NICU requires, we provide parents with information through our blog and offer daily support, so they can actively parent in the NICU with a sense of HOPE and empowerment. We encourage moms and families to photograph their preemies each and every day capturing the journey they are facing together as a new family. We provide complimentary photography sessions while a preemie is in a NICU or up to their 1st year birthday. We also have a national online support group and many local face-to-face chapters. We provide gift bags to moms parenting in a NICU that include needed items for arrival home, comfort items, a journal to document their story, and other items to help mom relax a little. As we continue to grow, through sponsorships and donations, we will also include gift cards for food, gas, and hotel vouchers to make it easier for families to spend time with their baby. Spending time with their baby in the NICU is essential and sometimes gas costs and drive times can make this difficult. We want to help. Studies show that babies go home faster, the more time parents can spend with them. Our goal is simple it is to help families in neonatal intensive care units. With the help of hospital social workers we also have in place small grant distributions up to $1,200 that can go to NICU families who are needing a little more help during this time. We also offer a prayer page for preemies where parents can send a picture and message and a national team of prayer partners will join with them to pray for their preemie. We are a 501(c)3 non profit organization and a division of Pass Times United, INC. We only strive to give to and support families. Although, throughout the year we do donate some needed handmade items to our community NICUs, we do not give monetarily to them. We do not receive any grants or government related funds: we completely rely on donations from generous individuals and sponsors.
Every new preemie parent spending time in a NICU deserves an advocate! While you are advocating for your child we will offer you support, be a friend who has shared your experience, answer your questions, and direct you to additional help and resources if needed. If you are a former NICU mom we invite you to do the same by joining us.
Brazos Valley, Waco, Temple, Killeen, Fort Hood Join Here: Preemie and NICU Meetup
Houston Area Join Here: Preemie and NICU Meetings
I'm Amber and a mom to identical twin girls. They were preemies, born at 32 weeks gestation. We were in a NICU for 4 very long weeks. My time spent in our NICU and those first weeks back at home with preemies, was one of the most trying yet shaping times in my life.
There were a handful of things that got me through it. First, a firm reliance on my faith in God's plan. Second, my support network filled with family, friends, doctors, nurses, and many other people who had been through the same experiences. Third, my babies. As my husband and I watched them grow stronger everyday, they were a constant reminder that what we were doing was right. Almost, as if they could talk they would say, "thank you, hang in there momma we are growing and will be home soon!"
Last, pictures. Everyday after I would leave their isolette and head home, I would stop by the store to develop all of the pictures I took that day in the NICU. Even once they were both home with us, my husband and I, would flip through the book I made of their NICU stay and homecoming often. It was therapeutic and it helped me, it helped my family, and it still does.
Being in a NICU, as well as, those first weeks at home with a premature baby is almost unexplainable to anyone who has not been through it. We would "joke" all the time about feeling like round the clock nurses once we got home. So many people think that once you are home the scary part is over, but we know that is not true! Emotions run wild, as sometimes you are extremely sad and other times overly joyful, then scared beyond belief, yet prayerfully hopeful. I remember nights when my husband and I would go from crying to laughing hysterically in a matter of seconds. We were honestly a mess.
Thankfully, I've taken pictures my entire life to document happy and hard times like this. In the midst of our mess, I was still able to capture some very special moments that will never happen again in my lifetime. The pictures were therapeutic then, but now they are even more precious. They bring me great joy, pride, and confidence, in myself, my children, and my family. They truly are priceless. I look at the girls NICU pictures more than any others, and one day I will tell them the story of how their life started by showing them those same pictures.
Some may feel that the NICU isn't a place you necessarily want to document with great photos, but I disagree. Although it may be an extremely difficult time, I've talked to many moms who wish they had them now. At the time many feel photography was not something of importance, since your baby is fighting for their life. It is understandable but later regrettable, which is why I want to encourage you to take pictures during your journey and why our organization offers the gift of photography to you and your family.
Since my girls were born, my love for photography has grown and flowed into precious images of my twins, which now hang on my walls. I love taking pictures and have a camera that helps me to create beautiful images. I couldn't help thinking how much I would like to share this gift with others who may not have this passion or the financial ability to pay for what photography services usually cost, but are very deserving especially during this difficult time in their life. Out of this desire to give back Preemie Prints was founded and has grown and developed into a national 501(c)3 not for profit organization devoted to NICU babies and supporting their families. We offer a variety of programs for NICU families and are devoted to making a difference in the lives of many.
A baby in the neonatal intensive care unit is a family crisis. Parents are rarely prepared for the challenges of the NICU environment, such as the fragile condition of the infant, the high level of technology, and frequent crises (Brown, Pearl & Carassco, 1991). The parents' reactions to the birth of a premature baby or sick newborn have been compared to the stages people progress through in reacting to a traumatic grief-producing event: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance and adaptation (Harrison, 1983). Over the years these reactions have stayed the same, but family centered care has become more important to the health of the baby. So support at the parent level is necessary. Preemie Prints is a network of families supporting each other in Texas and across the nation through online networks.
DOWNLOAD OUR BROCHURE BELOW. CLICK ON EACH PAGE TO SAVE TO YOUR COMPUTER. PLEASE PRINT AND SHARE WITH ANYONE IN NEED OF SUPPORT...
Preemie Prints is a 501c3 non profit organization sharing hope with families who have a premature or sick baby in a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) through information, support, complimentary photography, gift bags, and prayer.
Our mission is to support NICU families through a unique network that offers HOPE. We strongly advocate for families and
encourage story telling through photography as a coping mechanism. As developmental care in the NICU requires, we provide parents with information through our blog and offer daily support, so they can actively parent in the NICU with a sense of HOPE and
empowerment. We encourage moms and families to photograph their preemies each and every day capturing the journey they are facing together as a new family. We provide complimentary photography sessions nationwide while a preemie is in a NICU or NICU graduate photography up to their 1st year birthday. We also have a national online support group and local face to face chapter meetings in Houston, The Brazos Valley, Temple, and coming soon to Ohio and Philladelphia. Through community donations, we provide gift bags to moms parenting in a NICU that include needed items for arrival home, comfort items, a journal to document their story, and other items to help moms relax a little.
People who are interested in supporting Preemie Prints can do so in a variety of ways. Some being: donating monetarily which goes toward supporting our organization's operating activities and will also help to distribute grants to our local NICUs for equipment, additions, and other needed items. A supporter can give by, donating in-kind items for our NICU gift bags, becoming a volunteer photographer, sponsoring our meetings with food donations, or sponosring our gift bags with gift/discount cards. Lastly we are in need of new or used books about premature birth, infant loss, life in the NICU, and any related topics. Donations of any kind (books or NICU gift bag items) can be dropped off at the below address or we can arrange for pick up.
Organization Headquarters:
Preemie Prints
2306 Kendal Green Cir.
College Station TX 77845
www.preemieprints.org
http://www.facebook.com/PreemiePrints
Preemie Prints is a division of Pass Times United Inc. based in Waco, Tx.
We are a 501c(3) tax deductible not for profit organization.
All donations are tax deductible, contact us for identification numbers and further financial information.
Amber Collier
979.635.0825
amber@preemieprints.org
We are an organization for premature babies, NICU babies, NICU shop, shop for premature babies, support premature babies, support NICU families, sew for preemies, sew for premature babies, preemie support groups in texas, preemie support groups, NICU support texas, Texas premature baby organization, Christian preemie organization, faith based preemie, preemie prayer page, premature baby charity, private preemie group, premature baby facebook, temple texas preemies, premature baby Temple texas, premature baby Houston texas, NICU baby Houston texas, NICU baby waco, premature baby Waco texas, cakes for preemies, premature baby foundation, raising money for preemies, information about preemies in texas, preemie information blog, learn about the NICU, learn about preemies!
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Labels: bryan college station complimentary photography, Bryan College Station Premature Baby Charity, charity baby photography, charity photography, Free Photography, preemie photography texas
January 2, 2011
How We Help
Preemie Prints: Project Goals
To provide emotional support and encouragement to parents of premature or sick infants while the baby is in the hospital and after the baby goes home.
To facilitate communication between parents and health professionals
To serve as advocates for NICU infants and their parents
To recruit, train, educate, and support volunteer parents to enable them to use their NICU experience for a positive result
To enhance public awareness of the special needs of families with premature and high-risk infants
Potential for other program development:
Telephone hotline
Parent support packets at admission and discharge
We are a Christian charitable organization formed to provide support for families with a baby(ies) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or for those at risk for preterm labor. We do this by:
Increasing awareness and educating about the symptoms and risks of preterm labor and providing financial assistance to families with babies in the NICU.
Below are some items that we will use donated funds toward for families staying in a NICU:
Preemie car seats
Diapers
Preemie clothes
Formula
Breast pump rentals
Cribs
Food
Hotel stays/local housing options
Books
Bibles
