'A Journey to Home' is a NICU journal and Preemie Baby Scrapbook that is meant for the first six months of life. It is a compilation of journaling pages, record-keeping, a NICU dictionary, calendars, milestones and more.
The 33 days that my son spent in the NICU were by far the longest, most difficult days of my life, and his. I pray that he will be blessed to never have to battle for his life ever again. My NICU days were complete with arrival by noon and leave around the nine or ten o'clock hour. For those 33 days, I would sit by his isolette and listen to alarms in the air while trying to occupy my time with photos of him, journaling about him, and of course scrapbooking.
I would take a little travel suitcase to the NICU everyday with scrapbooking papers, glue, elements. I would sit down, and look blankly at those pages and tear up at not knowing how to celebrate his birth on paper. I would write his story to the nurses, I would clip the headlines from the newspaper edition on his birthday, but really I was at a loss for putting it all together. After Rowan arrived home on that September day, I still continued to journal and put together a family website in which all of our relatives were able to access and read. These pages are still published and will be put into a book for him to read about his NICU successes.
After a few months went by, and Rowan came off of his apnea monitor, I began compiling a NICU journal. I found that digital scrapbooking was a favorite way for me to bring together all of my thoughts, and of course all of the photos that I had of Rowan. I sought out a fantastic digital artist who completely shared my passion. She allowed me to put her art into the NICU Journal. Lara Payton of Dusty Bear was fabulous to work with.
This NICU Journal quickly turned into a 35 page memory book for every preemie and their parents. I was able to find other resources that allowed me to include a NICU dictionary and more.
The book is full of beautiful design, in full-color. I can't boast about it enough. I am currently offering the book with free shipping at a price of $27.08. It is my intention to continue to create for the parents of the NICU, and therefore a full baby book will be hitting the market within the next year.
Rowan is fabulous! He is turning two next month, and has seen much joy in his life. He continues to thrive, although we had some scares early on. Being a mom of a preemie has marked me for life. I will never forget the experience, I will always hold my son in my arms as if never to let him go... I will treasure every milestone as it is a true miracle.
