Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The Start of the Little Rock Preemie Project.

Well, where should I start.
I am a senior at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, which is what has made me remember this project.  I came up with this idea as a freshman at UCCS in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  I have always loved to knit and crochet, and I love to help others.  So, when I started as a nursing major, I decided to start making hats for the precious miracle babies of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a local hospital.  I made a few hats here and there, and eventually just forgot about it.
Now that I am in school to become a Respiratory Therapist, I have been so lucky to be able to have clinical days in various intensive care nurseries around Little Rock.  Getting to spend my time with these amazing babies who are fighting for their lives made me think about what else I could do to make their lives better.
Tonight I came home and started digging in my "craft closet".  I finally found my bag of premie hats from my freshman year! I am so excited about starting this up again!

Even though I have a very busy semester, I am going to try and make (and potentially collect) as many hats as I can.  At the end of the semester, I will divide them up, and bring them to the different NICU's that I have worked in.  I can only hope that my hats will be used and that they will bring joy to the babies and their families.

Here I will post about whats going on, and how many hats I have made.  I would love to hear from other people who might be interested in joining with me, or just hearing other stories about people giving back.

As of right now, I have ten hats of varying sizes.  Can't wait to get started!

S.

3 comments:

  1. This is an awesome idea!

    When I first started selling my crochet hats I went to Colorado State for a school project and donated the money I made first to the Epilepsy Foundation and then to UNICEF Tsunami relief in 2005!

    I would love to send some hats your way if you are in need of any! How tiny is a preemie's head?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would love some hats from you!! I could use as many as I can get!! I've seen circumference as small as 9 inches. Hope that helps!! The hats are super quick to make. I can finish one in about 15 minutes, and I'm not a super fast stitcher. Also, they need to be kind of simple. Not a lot of ridges for the super small ones. For the larger babies that's fine, but the little 25-30 week babies have sensitive heads!
    Thanks so much!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. love this! let me know i will donate photos of you giving hats to preemies and them wearing them.

    ReplyDelete