As most of you know, our daughter Rylee spent 45 days in the NICU at Duke Children’s after she was born premature. Being a parent in the NICU is isolating, exhausting, and terrifying. We were lucky enough to be able to bring Rylee home before her first big holidays, but many families will spend Thanksgiving and Christmas up in the NICU with their little fighters this year. We want to do something to help these families remember that they are not alone. And to help them celebrate their little NICU warriors, even in the toughest of times.

I am going to put together small

holiday gift bags for families in the NICU this season. I am hoping to include some items to help make their spaces more “cozy” during this hard time, and some self care items for the caregivers who spend so much time sitting in recliners, forgetting to leave for a snack, and giving all their energy to their little ones. There are 74 beds in the NICU at Duke, and they are almost always all full. If you are able, please consider helping me to show these families that they are never alone