NICU Cookbook
September 14, 2007
Hi Jenna!
It has been so long since I have written to you. I think of you and talk to you daily. I wanted to write to you about the NICU board I am part of at the hospital. I feel like we have really made some wonderful changes and want you to know I do it in your honor. I feel like this is a way for me to be a better person, helping other families and other babies.
We currently are working on, actually just submitted for publication a fundraising cookbook to raise funds to support the families whose babies are in the NICU. The money raised will go to buying educational, including grief and loss materials, developmental materials for pre-term babies and parking assitance for the families of babies in the NICU. I was so glad to be part of this process. It was a lot of work but feel like we will really be helping people by doing this.
One of my goals in joining this board was to do something for other families faced with losing their baby and I feel by helping on this board and working on this cookbook has done that, in some small way. I don't want families to have to worry about paying for parking. I don't want families to feel alone in their journey when faced with their child dying. I don't want families to have to fight with nurses about how many people can see their baby or how long they can stay. None of those thing should be an issue. Thankfully, by being a part of this council, I have been able to provide my perspective, my experience in the NICU and can say I am proud to have helped to change some of the rules. I am also proud of the cookbook we created to raise funds to help families directly.
I wish I could make it so that a family whose baby dies would never have to see a hospital bill, would never have to worry financially about those things but that is a pretty big dream. Someday maybe I'll find a way to make that happen. For now, I feel that helping families with parking fees and giving them tools to help themselves during this difficult part of their lives, I have kept my promise to you.
Thank you for giving me the strength to share our story, to continue on this journey without you and to hopefully continue to change, for the better, the experiences of future parents.
Loving you always,
Mommy
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