Scrapbooking in the NICU – Another Creative Way to Cope

Keeping some kind of a written record of your baby’s NICU adventure is recommended way of making it a bit easier for parents to cope with the NICU. Two ways of keeping a record are by keeping a written diary or by creating a scrapbook.

Many of the traditional baby scrapbook resources do not lend themselves to creating a scrapbook for preemies and NICU babies. They don’t have words or images for experiences that NICU Parents face. Fortunately, some former NICU parents have developed scrapbook resources for NICU parents to create NICU scrapbooks.

Many NICU Staff, Nurses and Social Workers encourage NICU parents to keep some kind of a daily account of their NICU adventures. Some parents prefer finding ways to turn their NICU adventure into scrapbook pages.

NICU staff recognize the benefits of scrapbooks and diaries. Holden NICU at the University of Michigan and the NICU at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital offer special programs in scrapbooking for parents in the NICU as a way to encourage parents to create a scrapbook.

Keeping a scrapbook or a diary is a helpful way of documenting the NICU adventures and assisting NICU parents cope with the overwhelming experiences. It is also a way of keeping a visual record of how your baby is growing and changing.

Many times it is difficult for parents to see the day-to-day changes, but keeping track of growth and progress on a chart like the Weekly Stats for the Premature Infant from Miracle Bebe, can help parents see real changes that are occurring over time.

Some NICU parents might find the thought of creating a scrapbook during their time in the NICU overwhelming. The parents can focus on keeping track of information to create a scrapbook later, or perhaps pass on the task of actually making the scrapbook could be passed on to a crafty grandparent, aunt or friend.

Finding NICU Scrapbook Supplies

Scrapbooking supplies created specifically for NICU babies may be difficult to find. Fortunately, the former NICU parents at Miracle Bebe and at My Kids Inspiration developed scrapbook resources for NICU parents to create their own NICU scrapbooks.

Resources for Creating NICU Scrapbooks

Miracle Bebe

Miracle Bebe was created by Jessica Williams following the birth of her 30 week NICU son. Visitors to Miracle Bebe will find an abundance of free services and resources on the website. Jessica says that “My experiences in the NICU motivated me to provide products that would help to heal the moments spent in the NICU.”

Preemie Scrapbooking Freebies Miracle Bebe sites offers a variety of free downloads including pages of NICU records, growth charts, lactation records, journaling pages, birth announcements, conversion charts, etc. These pages can be printed on your home printer, and embellish with photos or hand written content.

 

Miracle Bebe also has “A Journey to Home” available for purchase. This NICU Journal and scrapbook has 35 pages of journaling pages, growth charts and a medical dictionary to help keep track of a NICU baby’s adventure. 

My Kids Inspiration

My Kids Inspiration was developed by Nick and Lisa Giacobe after the birth of their preemie twins at 32 weeks, when they are unable to find preemie or NICU-related scrapbooking products.

My Kids Inspiration now site offers many products for Preemie Scrapbooking, NICU Scrapbooking, Twin Scrapbooking and Baby Scrapbooking. Their NICU Dayz calendar is a 3 month calendar that helps parents focus on their time in the hospital with a premature baby. They also have a preemie baby milestone sticker calendar to help parents keep track of their baby’s milestones in the first year.

Their scrapbook word sheets have words known only to NICU parents like “Born 2 Soon,” “Premature,” “MicroPreemie,” “Early,” “Prayers,” “Unexpected Delivery” and “Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.”

More on Keeping a Diary in the NICU

The Good Beginnings program has made a NICU Parent Diary page that is freely available online for NICU parents to download, print and use to track their NICU baby’s progress.

Dyer KA. 2009. Keep a NICU Diary or Journal to Monitor Your Baby’s Changes. Type-A. Mom.

Dyer KA. 2009. NICU Diary Page Available for NICU Parents. Type-A Mom.

Dyer KA. 2009. Benefits of Keeping a NICU Journal. NICU Parent Support Blog.

Dyer KA. 2009. Gift Ideas for NICU Parents. Squidoo.com 

Images:

All Our Love Scrapbooking Page and Weekly Stats for the Premature Infant. Used with Permission from Jessica Williams of Miracle Bebe.

About the Author

Kirsti A. Dyer MD, MS, FT is a respected physician, an expert in life challenges, loss, grief and bereavement, professional health educator, professor, lecturer and author. She is also the Parent of a very healthy NICU Survivor.

Dr. Dyer created and has maintained Journey of Hearts, a website for anyone who has ever experienced a loss. She is the author of For Those Who Hold the Littlest Hands, an eBook written to provide information, encouragement and support for NICU parents. She is the founder of the NICU Parent Support Site, a website developed to provide information, encouragement and support for NICU parents.

Related posts:

1. NICU Diary Page Available for NICU Parents
2. Make a Preemie Prayer Pocket to Help Cope with the NICU
3. Keep a NICU Diary or Journal to Monitor Your Baby’s Changes
4. Tips for Scrapbooking with Children
5. Free NICU eBook Available for NICU Parents