project tiny.

Last summer the face of my family changed.  My brother's girlfriend was expecting twins, due near the end of September.  But July 10th, they were born.

Kyah & Sunaura.

Kyah's lungs were not strong enough to survive, and she passed away shortly after birth.

Sunaura, however, was perfect in every way.  Sure, she was tiny and had a lot of growing left to do, but for a premie as young as her, she was doing really great.

Then came 2 months of life in the NICU.

Anyone who has ever visited the NICU can see how stressful it is there.  Think about it... you either stay in that one spot for 2 months, or you have to leave the hospital and leave your baby.  That's terrible, but parents are having to do it all the time.

How awful it must feel to be at home at night while your baby is in the NICU.  I can't even imagine.

But that's not the point of this post.  I want to introduce you to project tiny.  Here's a few bits from their website:

Project Tiny is a volunteer organization in which professional photographers donate their time and talent to families with babies in the NICU. 



Project Tiny photographers offer a NICU session, as well as a coming home session. You will be presented with one set of prints for each session to remember this time together with your family.
 Under the discretion of each individual photographer, you may be offered complimentary  a 1 year session to show how just how far your tiny baby has come.


Families are in no way obligated to buy anything but may choose to purchase additional prints, albums, or sessions.

It wasn't even a thought to not volunteer for this.  It's awkward, as the family, to take pictures in the NICU.  People look at you like you're hurting the baby or something.  In fact, two of the pics above were snapped by my brother's cell phone.  But I think this is a step toward making it okay to make those memories in the NICU.  After all, these are the first days, weeks, months, of a child's life!

So that's what's going on in my life these days.  And if you think this is as awesome as I do, then there's ways you can help out, too.

Photographers:  of course, you can volunteer to take the photos!  Info for you is here.

Families & friends of NICU babies:  spread the word!

Doctors, nurses, etc:  talk to your hospital about getting involved.  Parents often don't have any idea about these types of services available to them.  The more people know, the more choices they have.  (Also, please, please check out http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/ -- it's for families that aren't fortunate to have their babies even make it to the NICU-- something else I wish we had known about last July.)

Everything you need to know is on their website, so go check it out!  They also have a facebook page.