Is there anything useful I can send for friend with 29 week premie?

[tealandteal]

My friend has just had her baby at 29 weeks. Is there anything I can send that would be helpful useful or nice? She is quite far away and not super close friend so I can’t really offer her practical things, eg with my best friend I could clean her house but not at that level. They live quite rurally so don’t think just eat etc will deliver at their home but no idea what they are eating at the hospital. I saw some lovely incubator vests in the right size but no idea if all babies can wear these?

I would send her a basket of products for her - bath bubbles, body moisturiser etc. oh and chocolate!

I would do this too, I had ds at 32 weeks and the baby will have everything it needs but its poor mum will be wrecked. I appreciated any treats I was given.

Yeah baby is sorted, I got loads of stuffed toys that were a bit much 🤣 and they grow out of the vests fast and often get lost in the hospital wash, so it’s best to steer clear.

treat mum, she needs it

I'd send an Amazon delivery of snacks, like crisps, cereal bars, biscuits.. they'll probably be spending a lot of time in hospital, and having snacks to hand rather than having to pay out for vending machines all the time would be helpful.

I had a 29 week old - most useful gifts were food - chocolate, macarons, a huge cake, a cashmere zip up hoody as I was constantly stripping off for skin to skin cuddles and some nice premature sized sleep suits as they were quite hard to find. No soft toys as we had loads.

Food so they don't have to think.
I had a lovely Cook parcel delivered from a friend which just made dinners easy for a week or two. Also had lots of snacky foods which were great.

That is a lovely idea but maybe better for when baby was home, I was barely ever away from the hospital for the first 6 weeks so I wouldn't have had a chance to eat a cook meal. I would say snacks are better. Or offering to come to the hospital to go for tea / a drink / a quick meal. There is a lovely bar opposite the hospital my baby was in and a friend took me for a glass of champagne there one day and it was so nice to be out of the hospital and the grim cafe downstairs.

Voucher for hospital food provision (loads have M&S stores now, check though on website) as families spend a fortune on food/ parking.

See if you can find out more info about the hospital before buying any vouchers/sending food etc. Some hospitals let mums have free parking/food voucher for the canteen if breastfeeding (expressing for preemie counts), and ours has a Costa but it doesn’t take gift vouchers due to the type of franchise or something. We stayed in a Ronald McDonald type house while our 29 weeker was in hospital so food wasn’t super useful, and she wasn’t allowed to wear clothes until we moved hospitals at about 32 weeks but I loved blankets for her, someone got us Amazon vouchers which was useful, lip balm, and don’t forget a new baby card. I got loads of cards with my full term baby but only 2 with my preemie and it just felt like people were expecting her to die, I don’t even care about cards normally. If you do find any tiny preemie clothes online they’d be nice for when she’s slightly bigger if not now, she was tiny for ages