First off, I want to remind everyone to enter our giveaway for clothes from Elliot’s Preemie Tees™. The clothes are adorable, and two lucky winners will get to sample them for their own baby, or to gift to their NICU.

This is a little off topic, but I know how tight money can be when you’ve got a lot of medical bills, so I wanted to fill you all in on this offer. There is a promo through the end of today (May 15th) from a new competitor to PayPal called Revolution Money Exchange. Sign up today, and get $25 deposited into your account for free. Plus, you can earn an extra $10 for any referrals. You can set up one account per person over aged 18, so you could sign yourself up, and then refer your spouse, earning a total of $60. All you have to do to get the cash is log into your account and click the link to accept your money within 30 days of signing up!

Revolution Money doesn’t charge many fees. It’s free to register, add money, send money, receive money, request money and withdraw electronically to a bank account. There are fees to withdraw money by check or to receive a paper statement.

They say it takes up to 24 hours to get your bonus money, but I received mine within a few minutes of signing up. Signing up was quick and easy, and took less than 2 minutes. You don’t have to enter any banking or credit card information during the sign up process. Again, this promotion ends today, so jump on it!

Elliot’s Preemie Tees™ is a beautiful line of preemie clothes, founded by Debbie Besselievre, who’s own grandson Elliot was delivered at 30 weeks. Elliot weighed in at just 1 pound 12 ounces due to problems with his umbilical cord, and Debbie quickly discovered that specialty clothes designed to fit his tiny body carried a specialty price tag. Inspired by a desire to clothe her grandson, she used her skills as a seamstress to sew tiny outfits. NICU nurses and parents were so impressed by her work, that they encouraged her to make clothes for other babies, and Elliot’s Preemie Tees™ was born.

Elliot’s Preemie Tees™ are unique, because each garment is made to order. You can choose the style, fabric and size, and each item is made to your specifications. The clothes come in three sizes: small for babies 1-2 pounds, medium for babies 3-4 pounds and large for babies 5-6 pounds. Sizing is based on the measurements of actual preemies, including Elliot, so in most cases, you’ll find that Elliot’s Preemie Tees™ fit better than preemie clothing from major retailers. All fabrics are 100% cotton, and Elliot’s even carries an organic cotton selection made from cotton grown in the US, and milled in Canada, without chemicals or dyes! There is an assortment of tee and gown styles, and each be made with shoulder openings to make them more accessible for babies with IVs and other lines.

By the time I first discovered Elliot’s Preemie Tees™, my own preemie was big enough for regular baby clothes, and I didn’t get a chance to see any of their products first hand. Recently though, I was excited to get my hands on a few items from their line, including gowns and tees. At first glance, I was astounded by how tiny the size small body tee is. You can tell just by looking, that these clothes have been designed with the sizes of actual preemies in mind. The gowns and tees all unsnap down the entire front for easy dressing and access for nursing tasks and diaper changes, and the IV styles unsnap at the shoulders so lines can easily be managed and routed where they need to go without having to thread them through clothing, which can be difficult.

The clothes are well made, in cute fabrics, and there are many prints and solids to choose from. Iron on tags at the diaper level give you someplace to jot your preemie’s name so the clothes don’t get swept off to the hospital laundry. There are no scratchy tags at the neck, which is great, and the cotton fabrics are nice and soft. While I haven’t washed them because I’m saving them for you all, they look very sturdy, and I think they’d stand up to frequent washing quite nicely. All that, and they still manage to come at a price that practically can’t be beat!

All in all, these are definitely clothes I wish my own preemie would have had. Dressing her was a joy, when we were allowed, and having some nice, easily accessible outfits like Elliot’s Preemie Tees™ would have let us put her in her own clothes more often!

Now, here’s the best part: We have Elliot’s Preemie Tees™ to give away to two lucky winners! For boys, we have a size small hat and body tee, and a size medium hat and gown, all in the Later Gator print. For a girl, we have a size medium IV layette in the Baby Bear print.

To win, all you need to do is a leave a comment below. You can get one extra entry for posting about this contest on your blog, or on twitter. If you do this, come back and leave a comment here with a link to your post, so I make sure to give you credit for your entry!

Entries close Saturday, May 17th, and two winners will be chosen at random on Sunday, May 18th! Winners will be notified by email, so please remember to fill in the email blank when you leave your comment. Good Luck!

This week, NICU 101 is giving away 5 boxes of homecoming announcements or thank you cards to one of our readers.  The winner will get to choose any 5 boxes of cards from our NICU Expressions line.  To enter, leave a comment, and we’ll choose a winner at random on Sunday, May 11th!

Michelle - Congrats Michelle!

For everyone else, check back again for the next two mondays for more fun giveaways!

NICU 101 isn’t involved or affiliated with the following production, but in the interest of spreading public awareness about prematurity, we wanted to help get the word out:

Los Angeles area families who currently have a baby in the NICU are being sought for a documentary series for Turner. The documentary is seeking to build awareness about the issues that parents with babies in NICU face. According to Susan Baker of June Beallor Productions, they are particularly interested in finding families who anticipate getting to bring their baby home during the second half of May.

Any interested families can contact Susan directly by emailing her at susan [at] junebeallorproductions [.] com.

Fun, Fashionable Preemie Clothes

If you’ve opened a parenting magazine lately, you’ve probably seen a colorful ad for Zutano baby clothes, but here’s something you probably didn’t know - Zutano also makes preemie clothes! Technically, they call the size newborn, but since it’s designed to fit babies between 4 and 8 pounds and up to 18 inches long, the Itzy Bitzy line from Zutano would be perfect for a growing preemie, both in the NICU and at home.

I got a package the other day, full of clothes from the Itzy Bitzy line, and I have to let you all in on a little secret. Don’t tell my husband, but these clothes are SO cute, they make me want to have another baby just so I can dress them up in this stuff and take adorable pictures. But alas, I’ll have to live vicariously through the adorable pictures on Zutano’s website.

Like the rest of Zutano’s clothes, the Itzy Bitzy line is full of really cute prints in vibrant colors that will make mommy smile, even in the NICU. For each print, there is also a coordinating solid and stripe, for mix and match versatility. Right now, Itzy Bitzy clothes come in 6 or 7 body styles, depending on the print (sorry, no dresses for boys), including a kimono top, long and short-sleeve wrap bodysuits, leggings, a gown, a dress and a cap. With the fall collection, there will also be a brand new footie, and a gown with mitten cuffs.

Aside from being cute and cheerful, the next best thing about these clothes is their design. The Itzy Bitzy bodysuits and kimono top open completely in the front, for easy dressing, even with tubes and wires, and overlapping necklines make the dress and gown easier to pull on. If I had to choose just one piece, I think every preemie needs a kimono top in their NICU wardrobe because they are easy to put on, and look cute while still providing good access to nurses and other care givers. Of course, if I could squeeze one of my kids into these, they’d need more than just a top!

If your baby has moved beyond the 4-8 pound range, Zutano has a Baby Basics and Collectibles line for infants and toddlers respectively. Outer wear, blankets, plush toys and other accessories round out their offerings.

Like it? Love it? Want to Win it?

A few paragraphs ago, I mentioned a package of Itzy Bitzy clothes that I received in the mail. Well, for one lucky reader, those clothes will be theirs. The set includes a pink striped gown, cap and leggings, a kimono top, long and short-sleeve bodysuit, dress and cap in the Sorbetti print (shown in photo), and a coordinating pair of orange leggings. That’s 9 pieces in all!

Don’t have a tiny baby anymore? If you win, these items would make a great gift, to a friend, or to brighten the day of a family at your baby’s NICU.

To enter, leave a comment here by midnight on Friday, May 2nd (one comment per person please). You can also earn additional entries by:

1. following me on Twitter, or
2. sending out a tweet of your own about the contest.

A winner will be chosen at random, and contacted by email, so don’t forget to fill in your email address in the comment form.

As I mentioned earlier this week, there is a really interesting series on ethics and prematurity going on over at the Preemie Experiment. While reading the resulting comments, it occurred to me that average person on the street probably doesn’t have a very good understanding of the fundamentals of ethical decision making as it relates to medicine in general, and preemies specifically. In fact, it wasn’t until I read a particular comment discussing the concept of beneficence (an obligation to do good), that I even started to think about the issues presented within a real medical ethics framework, despite the months I spent analyzing and debating cases in my medical school ethics course.

The Four Principles

Ethical decision making in medicine is typically guided by four main principles: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. (more…)