4Kiddos Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 I have a friend who has 8 children and she just had her ninth sweet baby that was born with a cleft palate and a recessed jaw. She made a list of items for our church that would be helpful to her and the first one is "Grab and Go" meals for her and her husband to have as they are always going to the hospital. I know some of you have been through trials like this and thought you might be able to help me think of how I could best help her with these meals. She will have three people bringing food to church for her a week and I am bringing something this Sunday along with a few of the other things on her list. She didn't want any fresh items or anything that takes time to prepare. So, do any of you have any suggestions? I have a yummy recipe for Baked Chicken Taquitos that my family loves and I was thinking I could make those and just wrap them individually and freeze them and she could take them out as she wants. But I was wondering if there is something healthier or better that would freeze well? Also, was there anything in particular that really helped you or blessed you in some way when you went through something like this? She doesn't want visitors which I completely understand but I still would like to help her. She has tons of family too so her other kids are being well taken care of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Having a baby in NICU is emotionally draining. It has a lot of ups and downs. I would let her know you are praying for her, send her a text or card that doesn’t require a reply. Check in and offer encouragement periodically. Practically, find out which family member is organizing care for the kids and coordinate with them to offer play dates or rides to activities. Taking on 8 children, even temporarily, is a lot. Mow the lawn, fold laundry, vacuum her car, grocery shop. Make sure she has a good cooler for transporting breast milk back to the hospital. As far as foods, what about twice baked potatoes or soups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upennmama Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 My daughter was in the NICU for a month and it was deeply difficult. I would have appreciated food for my family! Maybe some premise breakfast sandwiches or burritos? Precut fruit, veggie sticks, decent granola bars. Maybe for the husband some jerky or sausages he can grab? Lunch meat and rolls? For Mom maybe include some magazines or books she’d like, since there’s a lot of sitting around in the NICU. ThNks for helping her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 When DS was in the NICU I brought a lot of freezer meals to the hospital. There was a fridge and lounge with a microwave in the NICU I could store a TV dinner in. The hospital actually provided one meal a day for each parent, but due to my wheat allergy there wasn't something I could eat on the menu every day, and salads weren't great there. There were a lot of TV dinners and protein bars. And that's not taking into account other kids in the house. So I guess I would focus on: Meals for other kids in the family, some frozen/nuke options, some things like potato salad, cole slaw, fruit salad, muffins, etc that are easy to munch on, mostly nutritious, and will last in the fridge for 3 days Easy to pack options for the person at the hospital all the time A Starbucks or coffee kiosk gift card if the hospital has one A basket of assorted candy with a "nurse bait" sign to put in the room Options like fruit or protein bars for snacks, possibly in packaged non-perishable lunchbox type containers Bottles of water and/or the parents favorite soft drink A parking pass for large hospitals where parking must be paid daily. Even if the hospital has one free space per day, that is often only for one trip per day, or one parent. And usually there are multiple trips and or the mom stays at the NICU and dad comes & goes as he can to care for other kids and/or work. Entertainment like an itunes or amazon gift card, a book of sudoku or crossword puzzles, stupid magazines with short articles for a distraction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Can you make a little NICU care package for mom? Water bottles healthy snacks chapstick magazines or short encouraging books My son was in the NICU very briefly and I was always starving and needing healthy things to eat while I sat with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 My ds was only in the NICU for a week, but that was bad enough. It was a 40 minute drive from home to the hospital, and that made it hard for us to be there for him but also there for dd. We had good help from family, but still. I don't know if this would be helpful in your friends' case, but it was very nice for dh and me to be able to get out of the hospital in the middle of the day since we spent so much time there. There were restaurants nearby, and we would go for an hour and just chill. Gift cards to any of those places would have come in really handy. Even someplace like Starbucks or Panera, where you could go at any time of day, would have been great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 I didn't feel comfortable leaving my baby there without an adult advocate. In retrospect it might have been nice for someone to offer to set with my baby while i took a walk or went to the library or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Kiddos Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 All of this is really helpful! Thank you so much for all of the ideas. I am going shopping tonight so I will definitely keep all this in mind. Unfortunately we are moving across the country in a week so a lot of the more physical things like cleaning or watching her kids is something I can't do. But she is a friend so I really want to help all that I can before we move. My plan is to make/buy some things tonight and tomorrow, freeze them, pack all of the rest of my kitchen, and then bring everything to church on Sunday. There is a lady at church who is bringing everything to their house so I will just give it to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 I had my 5th baby in the NICU with a cleft lip and palate. The thing that took a burden off of me was feeling like people were helping with the emotional and physical needs of my other children. A Meal train was organized for me, and people picked up and dropped off my kids at the time places they needed to be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Just saw your limitations on the kid front. Any way you could make her feel that baby is beautiful and celebrated is also wonderful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 I will echo what someone else mentioned: if they do their own yardwork, do that for a couple of weeks (or hire someone else to do it, or organize volunteers), if they will let you. We have done this a couple of times for friends going through stuff, and it has been very well received. We ask our yard maintenance company to pick up the other yard for a while and pay for it, because we don’t do our own yard work, so it’s really easy and no-fuss, i.e., no hauling over equipment, finding theirs, coordinating times, etc. We had a neighbor partially disabled by Guillaume-Barre, and his Sunday school class took turns mowing his yard every weekend for years, until they moved. I always thought that was the sweetest act of service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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