The following are letters to my daughter, Ellie, who was born premature, 4 months too early. They document her many months stay in the NICU, her trials, and the emotional struggles of her mother and I.
Just in case you were wondering how small you were, here you are next to a nurse's hands. By the way, those are tiny little Asian nurse hands, not the behemoth respiratory technician I was talking about in an earlier letter!
I love this photo! Can you bring something in to take size comparison photos with? Not all hospitals allow you to bring things in. We used a teddy bear but didn't start until 6 weeks old when my son was a bit more stable but just over 2lbs. Some folks have said they use Sophie the giraffe teething toy since it can be washed and sanitized before putting it into the isloette. Just don't sanitize Sophie in the dishwaswer... we lost our squeaker that way :(
Yeah, you know, that's a good idea. More contrast would be cool. Everyone that sees her up close is just amazed by how small she looks. They always say, "Whoa, she's way smaller than I imagined." I wonder what would really give Ellie a good perspective of how small she really was when she was little. Ideally, some object we could hand to her later when she's all grown. Like a baseball or something. Then we can do side by side photo comparisons with her next to/ holding the object!
Have they taken foot/hand prints for you? One thing people really liked was the foot/hand print and put a piece of money on it or next to it. Money is very common and gives a good contrast to a print. My son's hand was just a tad bit bigger than a quarter. I didn't think of a coin at the time but I had a pen with me in my hospital room so that is what I used for comparison, a pen is pretty common in size (at least height wise) People use stuffed animals (beanie babies are really common) baseballs, I have seen a dollar bill but wouldn't recommend it... seriously don't people know how many germs are on money? And one thing I'd wished I'd done was the photo with my husband's wedding ring on the arm. They wouldn't allow any ring with gems because of hidden bacteria but they would allow the men's ring without stones since it can be easily cleaned.
Yay! I was hoping for another photo! Her feet appear pretty big, though....taking after her Auntie maybe?
ReplyDeleteYeah, well wait until you see the picture of Ellie and Rani (if you haven't seen them already!)
ReplyDeleteI love this photo! Can you bring something in to take size comparison photos with? Not all hospitals allow you to bring things in. We used a teddy bear but didn't start until 6 weeks old when my son was a bit more stable but just over 2lbs. Some folks have said they use Sophie the giraffe teething toy since it can be washed and sanitized before putting it into the isloette. Just don't sanitize Sophie in the dishwaswer... we lost our squeaker that way :(
ReplyDeleteYeah, you know, that's a good idea. More contrast would be cool. Everyone that sees her up close is just amazed by how small she looks. They always say, "Whoa, she's way smaller than I imagined." I wonder what would really give Ellie a good perspective of how small she really was when she was little. Ideally, some object we could hand to her later when she's all grown. Like a baseball or something. Then we can do side by side photo comparisons with her next to/ holding the object!
ReplyDeleteHave they taken foot/hand prints for you? One thing people really liked was the foot/hand print and put a piece of money on it or next to it. Money is very common and gives a good contrast to a print. My son's hand was just a tad bit bigger than a quarter. I didn't think of a coin at the time but I had a pen with me in my hospital room so that is what I used for comparison, a pen is pretty common in size (at least height wise)
ReplyDeletePeople use stuffed animals (beanie babies are really common) baseballs, I have seen a dollar bill but wouldn't recommend it... seriously don't people know how many germs are on money? And one thing I'd wished I'd done was the photo with my husband's wedding ring on the arm. They wouldn't allow any ring with gems because of hidden bacteria but they would allow the men's ring without stones since it can be easily cleaned.