What can I get for my friend and her baby- she is being induced at 33 weeks today?

[OliviaMumsnet]

Hello
A lovely friend of mine has been in hospital with pre-eclampsia and she's due for a c-section this afternoon.
Want to do something for her but am on wrong side of the country and 38+4 weeks pg myself. What can I send her?
Flowers seems such a waste and I know some hosps don't allow it.
TIA

[Habbibu]

Oh, chocolate, surely? Plus maybe some nice shower stuff (am thinking Molton Brown just now!) as I guess baby will be in SCBU for a bit, so she'll be using hosp showers for a while.

[preggersagain]

find a gifty online company and send either a nice shawl (cashmere ) or find somewhere that does prem gift sets- i know i would have preferred either of those to the ten bouquets of standard interflora issue flowers!

or try to contact a local baby boutique- usually they will deliver gifts to maternity units. hth

[ROSEgarden]

some lovely tiny teeny little clothes so she wont be sad when the other things wont fit..or happy when he'she is too big for them thus proving baby is doing really well

[Habbibu]

Hope my answer didn't sound too shallow! Was just thinking of little stress relievers - she'll have had a tough time with PE, and having to be induced early, and will no doubt be worried about the little one. Perhaps start a thread for positive stories about prem babies and then send it to her?

[Overrun]

Get some premature clothes, esp if this has happened quickly. ds1 and dts were all small, and I needed to get some clothes for them quickly.

[RTKangaDYSONMummy]

Photo frames that she can put baby 1st photos into

[RTKangaDYSONMummy]

send her a keepsake bax for her to put stuff in and photos

[ROSEgarden]

If she is a very good friedn(and you can afford it) if she doesnt already have one, how about a digi camera?, something to keep by bedside to look back on when baby is growing stronger?

[LiegeAndLief]

I was in a very similar situation to your friend, had ds by cs at 34 weeks due to PE. Has she already been in hospital for a while? If so, send her a large hamper of nice food!

Depends a bit on the hospital and health of baby. Personally I would have been upset by prem clothes - ds was on a ventilator for a while and didn't wear anything but a nappy. Afterwards he could only wear button-down-the-front sleepsuits to get the wires in, and was in newborn size by the time he came home. Photo frame is a lovely idea, and one of my friends brought me a set of sanctuary goodies, which was lovely. Maybe nice moisturiser - SCBU is very dry and my hands got all cracked from the alcohol rub.

I loved getting flowers . Suppose they were a bit of a waste but I quite liked watching the mws battle their way to my bed through a veritable forest of interflora

[scottishmummy]

VThoughful.. congratulations on your pg

i also had a tiny baby with PE

some size zero nappies (tesco ownbrand on line) or larger Mothercare, Boots- as they will be better fit boots prem nappies they will deliver

some prem baby clothes eg Boots Mini mode LBW range Look at this pagethey deliver

some nice clinique goodies for mum clinique
good moisturiser - its very dyring in scbu/wards

soft towel robe for baby, soft baby grows, wee hat

BLISS org"

[alfiesbabe]

Definitely something for the baby to wear - tiny hats are a good idea, or a shawl. My dd was in SCBU for a month and when your baby is in hospital gowns or all the time, it's lovely to have a few special things that are just theirs.

[alfiesbabe]

Definitely something for the baby to wear - tiny hats are a good idea, or a shawl. My dd was in SCBU for a month and when your baby is in hospital gowns or all the time, it's lovely to have a few special things that are just theirs.

[OliviaMumsnet]

Thanks for all the suggestions - am still not sure what's best but have sent a card in the meantime - and will check what they most need - as totally understand the not wanting teeny tiny clothes thing.

[HairyMaclary]

The best thing that happened to us was a rota of the parents of the class that I taught bringing around a cooked meal every evening! It was so great to have a lovely meal and enough for leftovers to take to the hospital so I could eat well while expressing every 2 hours. So my suggestion would be food! Places like Cook! do really good ready meals and I'm sure they deliver.

[cmotdibbler]

Depending on whats local to the hospital, a gift card to something like M&S so that she can go and buy ready meals, sandwiches etc without worrying.

I think its nice to have some clothes bought for the baby, perhaps in a next size than its born in, as thats the sort of thing that is bought for term babies iyswim.

[madmumNika]

This will sound odd but I was in this situation (DS born by ECS at 30 weeks due to pre-eclampsia) and a friend bought me some lovely lavender room spray, hand cream and a couple of good, easy-to-read novels. They made so much difference- I was in hospital a while due to my poor health and also to establish expressing breastmilk, and had a sideroom- the spray made my room smell less like a hospital, the hand cream was vital after all the hand-washing that goes with a baby in SCBU and the books great for reading while expressing or while sitting next to DS's cot...and also helped me escape the reality that had been thrust upon us.

Thinking of your friend and her baby xx

[TinkerbellesMum]

Tesco do most of their baby range in Early Baby size, same prices too. I know one of the things that got me was having her in stock clothes, I much prefered her to have her own, with her own clothes I could take them back to my ward to cuddle. If you do buy clothes don't bother with vests, sleepsuits have to button down the front, fold over sleeves are good, wash them before you give them (it softens them and you don't know who has handled them, important factors with a sick baby).

Zacky Hand is a great source of comfort to mother and child. I wish I had heard of them when I had Tink.

Other than that, one of the best things that was done for me was by mum. She took a list of everything I needed that didn't have because of what had happened and did a load of shopping for me - nursing bras, nightclothes (I was very sore so was restricted what I could wear), breast cups (the best thing I found that helped when I was pumping), etc. I couldn't feel happy for having a baby so didn't take much pleasure in the gifts people gave me or Tink, but Mum doing the running around for me was more appreciated than anything that someone could have bought.

[cosima]

an organic cotton cellular blanket from the green baby shop. available on line. it is singulrly the best thing i have had for my new born. i have not used any other blanket. it is brilliant. infact everything from green baby has been fab and well worth the money. by the way i was given way too many clothes, especially vests and bibs.

[mylittlepudding]

madmumNika has some lovely ideas.
Mine wasn't quite that early but I also had the clothing/ hats, etc problem. And worried a bit about buying things that wouldn't last for long. John Lewis do BRILLIANT early and very early things, my aunt treated us to those. If you want to really treat her - a tiny baby snowsuit. It won't be used much but makes SUCH a difference.

[madmumNika]

I think clothes can be very much needed but really emphasise checking first, as often this seems to be what everyone buys! I was given a lot of very cute early baby outfits for DS but many he never wore as they weren't appropriate for SCBU (too fiddly or too warm) and by the time he was home he weighed a 'normal' newborn weight of 7lb (he was in a good while). Also I was given a flurry of 3lb and 4lb clothes but as DS was on CPAP for much of that time and having phototherapy he wasn't dressed at all! In the end I donated what we hadn't used to SCBU.

I think soft blankets are a great idea, especially for wrapping over mum & baby during kangaroo care xx

[fullofbeans]

My DS was born at 29wks. The best present I was given (it was my birthday a few days later) was a digital radio. I was put in a room on my own with no baby (down in SCBU) and felt quite lonely especially at night time. I also had it with me when expressing milk as that would take up a large part of my day.

I also loved having clothes for DS. It made me feel like a proper Mum to be able to dress him nicely. You can get some great ones with ties (much easier) from a site called peeny weeny.

Also just wanted to say that having ds early was not a bad experience - just a different one - he was my 1st so didn't know any other way! He's now nearly 10 months and a healthy 17lbs - full of character and no obvious long term effects from being prem.

Good luck to your friend x

[Callieco]

This is probably too late now, but on my SCBU we weren't allowed to bring any clothes in from outside because of the infection risk. They had clothes there and everything was laundered in-house.

My mum gave me a soft, fine pink wrap which I used when I was trying to bf and do kangaroo care, and it was lovely. I felt it was something special I could leave at my son's cot which came to smell of both of us (in a good way!) and was comforting to put around, as well as adding a bit of privacy in a busy ward.

Definitely second the moisturiser idea, but I'd get one without perfume as I found they made my hands sore too.

[BebeCannelle]

I second the wrap sweater (in soft merino wool or cashmere). Wrap cardigans are ideal, since you can dress your baby without pulling things over the head.
HTH

[maddylou]

When I had my prem baby snacks ,maybe fruit, would have been good as I kept missing meals as I was in SBCU and the meals got taken to the main maternity unit-clothes are generally provided bywellwishers and knittersget a pretty notebook to keep a diary of progress and a things to do today book (WH Smith)to keep her organised as its very lifechanging