The Untouchable Mother Sculpture Series By The Midnight Orange

There are many memorabilia type items for parents of premature babies and for parents who have experienced an infant loss, angel parents as we call them. We are always searching for information to share with Preemie Prints and the NICU community of families. The other night I was researching online and stumbled upon probably one of the most beautiful memory items for mothers of NICU babies that I have seen to date. It is called "The Untouchable Mother" and it's a sculpture of a mother sitting by an isolette peering in, longing for, her tiny premature baby. The emotion, the vivid memories, the pain, and the joy of my time in the NICU came rushing back when I saw the sculpture. Tears came and I was moved. That is what the purpose of art is and D. Antonia Truesdale of The Midnight Orange beautifully captures the essence of a NICU mom in her artwork.

I reached out to the artist, because I really wanted to share the work with you - our Preemie Prints community. After we visited, she decided to work on expanding her line to include a series of sculptures, not only for NICU moms, but for the whole family. Through Preemie Prints and this blog post she is reintroducing her beautiful series to you. She shared a few words with us about why she sculpts for parents of premature babies, NICU families, and angel families. Here is what she had to say:

"I have had the extreme privilege of working with parents on all walks of life, and one group I've been really touched by is families of premature babies. To see photos of their little ones so close yet out of reach plays a bittersweet lullaby on the heartstrings. This sculpture series was inspired by the desperate longings preemie parents have shared with me, and I am very happy to be able to reintroduce this into my collection of available sculptures.

This specific design is not only customizable to your family portrait, but once you have it home with you you are able to customize it further by adding your own special keepsakes to the bottom display case. The bottom comes empty with a mirrored base and then you can add in any tiny mementos, as you'll see in some examples in the photos. I think it would be perfect for a little hospital bracelet, perhaps flowers from a baby bouquet or even a handwritten poem tied into a scroll. There are so many ways for this design to be personalized and I am just completely touched and humbled to have my artwork be a part of your preemie's mighty journey."

Now we will share the beautiful pictures of her new sculpture series and include information at the bottom of the post on how you can contact The Midnight Orange and place orders.

 

To ask questions and view all of her work 

please visit The Midnight Orange Etsy Store

The Untouchable Mother sculpture 

The Untouchable Mother & Father

The Untouchable Mother of Twins 

The Untouchable Mother & Father of Twins

The Untouchable Family

Visit Listings For All Sculptures Here

How do parents personalize baby's space & isolette in the NICU?

We asked parents how they personalized baby's NICU space. We received some wonderful answers and have included them here for you to enjoy! Please comment if you have anything to add. 

Window clings, window paint, pictures, scrapbook paper signs, pictures, stuffed animals, special blankets

Being that Ericka was born 14 days before Christmas we always had stuff animals and stockings around. Then decorated it with pictures of us. Angles and flowers and just made it feel warm. I had her outfit hung up of what she would wear when she came home.

My friend made a blanket with my baby's name on it, I brought in a bunch of blankets and onsies, & the nurse made a sign with her hand/foot prints, a picture with a Teddy bear, her name, and all her birth info. Then later, closer to being discharged (3 months later), another nurse had just gotten a new camera so they did a whole photo shoot and made a scrapbook page with 3 of the pics & I thing saying "work it baby".

I made Holiday decorations( like a footprint ghost, fall leaves with quotes on them), the nurses also made decorations, her older cousins drew pictures, prayer cards, poems, crib medals, a blanket my mom made, and little thank you notes for the nurses.

the NICU nurses had a sign on Sweeties Isolette that said.."warning I roar" because even when he couldnt make a sound you could always tell when he was mad...his monitors would beep like crazy ...so he had a warnong sign cuzz he was ALWAYS mad!! & we had a lil Curious George in his isolette & other monkey stickers cuzz he look'd like a LIL Baby monkey,....(its funny now)....

Andrew had his own little room so we had his name in picture's his sister's would draw for him and family picture's and his teddy bears.

We had small stuffed animals in her bed and in her area with her. I always slept with them in my bra so that way it would have my scent on them. The nurses were always taking pictures forr us whenever we couldn't make it (we lived 2 hours away and I also had a 1 year old home at that time).

I made him a blanket that we could put over his incubator then eventually use to cover up with. We also got him a mobile to go on his crib and would decorate the glass doors to his room acording to holiday :)

I had a hard time putting things up, I didn't want it to seem like we were sticking around. But, we did have pictures of our family, a small stuffed animal, pictures, and cards hanging on the cabinets close by.

My daughter was born this September So I have decorated for Halloween, Thanksgiving and now working on Christmas decor. I have made a scrapbook page for each holiday w/ a pic of her on it, I brought a pumpkin basket and a ghost animal for Halloween and a super cute stuffed Turkey for Thanksgiving. So far for Christmas I have hung a stocking, an ornament w/ her foot prints and she has a teddy w/ a Santa hat that says my 1st Christmas =))

My nieces and nephews colored lots of pictures and gave our daughter some stuffed animals to decorate her space. I had an ornament hanging in her isolette that said, "I made a wish and you came true."...we also had a purple rosary hanging in her isolotte, and I made her a fleece tie blanket that covered her isolette....I brought all of her own clothes so she didn't have to wear the ones from the hospital...she also had an angel figurine that my Mom got for her....oh, the memories ♥

Cute stuffed animals.
These are available in our Preemie Prints shop

Make a tiny flag and string it across your lil' ones isolette
for added color and a very homey feeling

add holiday decorations

Tiny stockings that could be hung on or near the
isolette

These inspirational messages/quote graphics can be printed and laminated
and hung near the isolette. We have about six that are currently available. Prayers are also great to print and hang! 

Saving Memories In The NICU

This article beautifully explains why we offer photography and DVD slideshows to families with a premature baby. Why we include journals and pens in our gift bags and what really defines the reasons behind the inception of Preemie Prints. Saving memories is therapeutic both during your time in the NICU with your preemie and when you get home. 

There are many ways you can record your NICU journey, including journals, photos, videos, memory boxes, scrapbooking and keeping a special NICU baby book. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but having a variety of choices is probably best. You may think you’ll never want to see the photos or remember how you felt on a particularly hard day, but you might surprise yourself in the future. Plus, while your baby will only be this small once, you’ll always have the ability to throw things away if you decide you don’t want them in the future.

Journaling:

There are no rules to keeping a NICU journal. You can jot down your thoughts or ideas in a small notebook or diary, or buy a special NICU journal designed just for this purpose. Many parents find journaling is a helpful way to sort out feelings as well as record details from conversations with medical staff and questions they’d like to ask in the future. A journal is also a great place to record weights, test results and milestones you might want to scrapbook or put in a baby book in the future.

NICU Baby Books:

Sometimes a regular baby book just doesn’t cut it for a preemie or NICU baby. If that’s the case, there are a few alternatives made just for your situation. Preemie baby books include special places to record important NICU milestones like coming off a ventilator, moving to an open crib or getting to full feeds.

Photos and Video:

Many people shy away from photographing their baby in the NICU because of how they look. Some people will be shocked by your baby’s appearance in photos, or may just be too afraid to look because they don’t know what to expect. However, photos and video are a great way to keep family and friends connected with your baby’s progress in the NICU. They can be especially helpful for siblings, who are often kept out of the NICU. Many NICUs have a Polaroid on hand, but if not, keep a disposable camera at the NICU, and ask nurses to record any firsts you may miss while you’re away from your baby. One day these photos and videos will be a great reminder of just how far you and your baby have come. You can also hire a professional to take and retouch photos of your baby. If the medical items in the photos continue to bother you in the future, there are artists who can make sketches from your pictures, leaving out things like IVs and monitors. Photos can also be retouched to remove some of these items, soften lighting or remove the background.

Memory Boxes:

You’ll gather many mementoes of your NICU stay, including tiny hospital bands and hats, crib cards, name tags and cards from well wishers. Other things you might want to save include a preemie diaper, a first outfit and other tiny items which will never cease to amaze your child as they grow bigger. Together with mementoes of your pregnancy like ultrasound photos, these items will make up a treasured collection that you and your child will enjoy going through in the future. Keep them together in a special baby memory box, plastic container or chest for years to come.

Scrapbooking:

Many NICU support groups host scrapbooking nights as a way to bring parents together to discuss and record their babies’ NICU journeys. Whether or not this happens at your NICU, creating scrapbook pages can be a fun and creative way to record your memories of the NICU and your baby’s milestones. You can be as creative as you want, but if you aren’t the craftiest person in the world, have no fear. Special preemie scrapbook pages and stickers are available from specialty retailers.

Regardless of how you choose to record memories in the NICU, rest assured that you and your preemie will treasure these mementoes well into the future.