Why is preventing prematurity so important? Early birth is the largest single cause of death in the newborn period and in infancy. In addition, many survivors of prematurity will have long-term developmental disabilities. The Institute of Medicine reported that the cost of premature birth in the U.S. adds up to $26 billion each year, which amounts to $51,600 for every infant born too early. suehallmd.com/aboutprematurebabies.html |
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A Note From Cassandra: On August 20th, we participated in the Parkville Days Parade in Downtown Parkville, MO. It was our first time walking in a parade and it was a blast! We’d like to invite you to walk with us in the Overland Park Fall Festival Parade on Saturday, September 24th. Participating is pretty simple! All you have to do is walk, wave, smile, give out flyers and candy! That's it! If you choose to walk with us, we ask that you wear an LWP t-shirt, which can be purchased on our website. We will be updating our website in a few weeks with new LWP kid tees! :) So be on the look out for that. For more information about this event and others, please check out the events tab on our Facebook page. There’s still time to submit your notes of appreciation to an area NICU or NICU nurse for our Noticed Campaign. What is the Noticed Campaign? It’s our way of letting NICU nurses & staff know how special they are to us! We’ve partnered with Amy Johnson of The Noticed Network, Lara Sodon of Send Out Cards, Cassi Furderer of ProForma, and Panera Bread to notice area NICU nurses in a BIG way on Neonatal Nurses Appreciation Day on September 15th! Please email your note of appreciation to Lauren Heller at lheller.lwp@gmail.com with the subject line NOTICED. Join Little Warrior Princesses as we celebrate our first Storybook Gala inspired by The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Delight in a fun evening of music, dancing, hor d'oeuvres, and much more while supporting families with babies in the NICU. All proceeds from this event will allow us to help more families by providing them gas and food gift cards to alleviate a little of the daily stress of having a baby in the NICU. You won't want to miss our inaugural gala event. You can purchase your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/little-warrior-princesses-storybook-gala-the-little-prince-tickets-26738391248 |
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We are SO excited to welcome Rebecca Seifert as Little Warrior Princesses new Assistant Volunteer Coordinator! |
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Jonathan Nicholas Scheelk |
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I never thought I would have a preemie. With three healthy and full term pregnancies, my husband and I made the mutual decision that our family was complete. Soon after we decided to purge our house of all baby related items, we found out we were pregnant once again. Although unexpected, we started to get excited that we would add another baby to our family. The big day came when we would find out the gender of our little one and instead of finding out we were having a boy or a girl we found out we were having two boys and one girl. Yes, triplets! Our family would grow from five to eight overnight and the realization came that we would have, not one preemie but three. |
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The triplets were born at 33 weeks 6 days and spent 16 days, 19 days, and 41 days in two different NICU's in the Kansas City area. This was by far the most difficult thing my family has ever dealt with. It taught me that even though life is fragile, it is also so very strong. When you watch your tiny child fight for their life and win battle after battle they become your hero. This is such a unique, inspiring, and heart wrenching experience. This month the triplets celebrated their second birthday and as I watch them thriving, interacting with their peers, trying new things, and growing stronger every day, the amazing feeling comes back and it is one I would never change. They still are and will always be three tiny heroes. Little Warrior Princesses is a great resource for NICU parents to lean on for not only gas and food gift cards, which are a huge help, but also the support of other parents who have been through the same experience. |
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We’d like to thank Jessica Strom with Jessica Strom Photography for organizing a 5 minute mini photo session fundraiser for LWP earlier this month in Downtown Kansas City. The photo session raised more than $900 dollars in gift cards for LWP NICU families. Thank you, Jessica! |
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NICU SPOTLIGHT: Please meet 'Little Warrior Princess' Hadley Faythe and her parents Lance & Briana. Hadley was born at 37 weeks weighing 6lb 4.5oz. Because of your generosity, this precious family received a $50 Quiktrip gas gift card. Thank you! |
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Gabriela Palomino is a wife and mom. She's also an amazing freelance make-up artist. We’d like to thank Gaby for volunteering her time and talent earlier this month for our promo video. Thank you, Gaby! |
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JJ Higgins is a college professor and a very talented artist. We'd like to thank JJ for volunteering her videography skills earlier this month, also for our promo video. Thank you, JJ! |
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Did you know, you can help NICU families by purchasing a LWP tee? Purchase a tee at the link below. | | |
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