Miss Olivia's NICU Grad Photo Shoot

Please enjoy Preemie Prints' families’ inspirational story & photos. 

Consider supporting our mission to share hope with families who have a baby born prematurely or critically ill. We thank our supporters, Preemie Prints volunteers, and donors for allowing us to continue touching the lives of NICU, preemie, and angel families.

We pray these special memories from Preemie Prints 

will help families heal and remember how strong 

they were in overcoming their NICU journey together.

A NICU STORY | THOUGHTS FROM MOM

“My daughter Olivia Grace was born at 31 weeks 6 days gestation, She weighed 2 lbs 15 oz.

My birth story is quite complicated. My husband and I have been married for almost 3 years, since we were older we started working on starting a family right away. We knew that we would have some difficulties and saw a specialist right away. After a few tests and attempts at IUI's we were told that our best option would be IVF. The process is not the easiest but we made it through. We had 21 eggs extracted; we were very excited. Day 3 we were told that only 12 were still growing and they wanted to see how they would do, so at day 5 we only had 3 embryos left. The doctors told us that they were perfect embryos and that we should be very happy. It was a little disappointing to us; we thought that after all those eggs only 3 were left. We decided that day to put 2 of the 3 back in. The doctor tried to talk us into only putting 1 back in since it was our first attempt. We both knew we wanted to put 2 in because we wanted to have twins and then we would be done, since we were a little bit older. We put 2 back in that day. I was over stimulated and had some issues and was put on bed rest after the implantation. That was the longest 2 weeks of our life. Finally we went in for our blood test and US (ultrasound) and we saw on the US that we were having twins! Our dreams had come true; the IVF took on the first attempt. We were monitored very closely the next several weeks to make sure hormone levels were ok and that they were growing properly. At 8 weeks we graduated back to my regular OB. I continued to have US every 2 weeks. At our 10 weeks everything looked great, both babies had strong heartbeats and continued to grow. Then at our 12 week US, we got some terrible news, baby B stopped growing at 10 weeks 4 days and no longer had a heartbeat. We were completely devastated. We knew we were lucky to still have another healthy baby growing but it was very hard for us. From that point on I think I never quit thinking about baby, I was always afraid that something would happen to the other baby still growing inside of me. After that my pregnancy progressed normally. I had a lot of morning sickness in the beginning but it had subsided by the second trimester. Around 16 weeks we had a harmony test done and found out that our baby was a girl and she was healthy! We were very excited. Around 22 weeks, I started having issues with my blood pressure. At first it was sporadic but around 24 weeks it was consistently high and I was started on blood pressure medications. At 25 weeks I had an episode that landed me an over night stay in labor and delivery to get my blood pressure under control. I was seeing my doctor weekly and having lab work done. At 29 weeks I was put on bed-rest. At 31 weeks my labs had shown that I was defiantly pre-eclamptic and my Doctor called me and told me to head to the hospital. She sent me to a different hospital that cared for babies born early, just to be safe. When I got there I was seen by a specialist and was told I would be on bed-rest there until I had the baby. I was scared. I got the steroid injections and was told we would wait until 34 weeks gestation unless the baby showed signs of distress before then. I made it 5 days in the hospital before that happened. That day the baby had some heart rate drops and they were concerned. That eve they did a c section and Miss Olivia was born at 2 lbs 15 oz. She cried when she came out and except for her size she was perfect. The entire pregnancy she was down very low and the doctor even joked that she knew which way was out and she was ready! Miss Olivia had quite the personality and she has been mighty from the day she was born, she is defiantly a fighter, she has done everything earlier than most babies in NICU and some of the nurses call her sassy pants.”

A Note From Robert:

 "It's hard to find words to express how happy I am for the Eader family. I had never met them before the session, but after reading their NICU story, I had discovered a common bond between us. They are so happy to have their healthy baby girl. If capturing these moments will help them to celebrate the birth of their beautiful daughter; then I'm all for it! Congratulations, guys!"

Photos belong to our volunteer photographers, families, 

and organization please do not use for any purpose. 

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Preemie Prints is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization sharing hope with NICU families through a variety of support programs. One of those programs is the gift of NICU photography and preemie photography. NICU families from across the US can request a no-charge photography session by a Preemie Prints volunteer. The family request from can be found on the right side of our website. These sessions are free of charge and for any NICU family, regardless of time spent in the NICU. The NICU photo shoot can take place inside the NICU or after baby is discharged and at home until their 1st birthday. Facing time in a NICU with a premature or critically ill baby is an extremely difficult time for families. Preemie Prints has a mission to share hope by letting families know they are not alone. Preemie Prints currently has over 100 volunteers nationwide. We are always looking for more volunteers to share in our mission! If you are interested, please email sherri@preemieprints.org and visit our website at www.preemieprints.org. To date Preemie Prints and our volunteers have gifted over 400 NICU family sessions. 

This was a Preemie Prints NICU graduate photography session that took place near 
St. Louis, MO.

We're thankful to the family for sharing their story & memories in support of other NICU families.