The Australian mom gave birth to her son 10 weeks premature in February 2016.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That’s just what one Australian mom did after her son was born 10 weeks premature in February 2016.
Like many new parents, Amy Purling was eager to show off her son’s progress by photographing him next to celebratory milestone cards so that friends and family could watch him grow, but Purling was unable to track down preemie-specific cards.
Longing to celebrate her son’s tiny victories during his five-week stay in the neonatal intensive care unit, the mom from Down Under decided to create her own.
“Most of the milestones on my cards were inspired by our experience,” she told Care.com.
Purling’s son, James, had several life-saving transfusions during his first few days in the world. Remarkably, just 19 hours after he was born, a nurse placed James on Purling’s chest for the first time.
“The nurse took our photo, printed it off and handed it to me with a journal,” Purling said. “From that moment on, I wrote every little new milestone that James reached in that journal and documented his progress.”
That’s when the idea was born. Purling said celebrating those small but mighty achievements was her only way of coping at such a frightening time.
She got to work and solicited help from neonatal nurses and other preemie parents to craft the language for each milestone card. Last December, she launched her Facebook page Miracle Mumma to spread the word. The cards celebrate some of the biggest breakthroughs for preemies, such as, “I graduated from NICU today” and “Today I’m breathing on my own.”
She has sold more than 100 sets of preemie milestone cards and said the response has been overwhelming and extremely heartwarming.
“I love that parents are able to celebrate these huge leaps and feel proud despite their frightening situation,” she said. “I’ve had people contact me from all over the world either wanting to simply say thank you and share their story, to purchase sets for themselves or for a friend, or even to donate sets to their local NICU.”
Overall, Purling said, she is most proud that these milestone cards are raising awareness of premature birth. About 15 million babies are born before the 37-week gestation mark each year, according to the World Health Organization.
“I believe these fragile babies who fight for their lives every single day remind us to be thankful,” Purling said, as her son recently celebrated his 1st birthday.
To learn more about the cards or to purchase a set, visit Purling’s website, Miracle Mumma or U.S. retailer the Preemie Store.
