Project Robby: Phase 2

We have decided on the next project to pursue for Project Robby! We have had so many people ask us what is next for Project Robby as well as wondering if we are still accepting donations.
   
Our original goal for Project Robby was to donate 50 hats and 50 blankets to the hospital where Robby was born.  It is our desire to keep Project Robby going.  We want to do whatever we can to help families who are having to endure one of the hardest things, the loss of a child.

After Robby was born and passed away there were so many things for our family to think about and to do. We had to plan a funeral, pick out a casket as well as a headstone. We also had to think about flowers for  his tiny casket. During this time, it didn’t ever occur to any of us that we should be taking pictures. What didn’t dawn on me during this whirlwind of grief was that if we didn’t take pictures of his perfect little features, we would never see them again. Other than being able to have Robby here with us, one of my biggest wishes is that we had pictures of him during the 2 hours of his life and even right after his death. We didn’t realize at the time that the pictures that we took on our phone would be the only pieces of physical evidence that Robby existed.

We have spent some time thinking about how to make that process a little bit lighter for families who are going through the same thing.

I have mentioned before the foundation Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. Photographers volunteer through NILMDTS to offer free photos of a baby who either has already passed away or is going to pass away.

Unfortunately, we did not have this option in 2012 when Robby was born. However, there are now two photographers in Wichita in addition to another one who is within driving distance!

Now, for the announcement of our project!

We want to help provide the photographers who volunteer to give these families these precious pictures with tiny hats and blankets to photograph the babies in and then leave with the parents. This way, the parents who have just suffered the loss of their baby will not only have the tiny hat and blanket that were on their baby but they will also have photographs of their beloved little one wearing these precious hats and blankets.  Although the hospital where we donated, Via Christi St. Joseph,  is well stocked with itty bitty hats and blankets, there are so many other hospitals that don't have the very small sizes for the extremely premature babies.

By providing these photographers with tiny hats and blankets we can make sure that even if the hospital where their child was born does not have a small enough size hat and blanket for them, they still have the opportunity to have something special for their child.
  
I have been in contact with our area coordinator of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep,  Heartland Photography, and she is excited about this project. She was thrilled at the thought of having some very small sizes for the extremely premature babies.

When I asked her what the smallest gestation of baby that she has photographed, she said that so far 18 weeks is the smallest. We definitely had hats in our first phase that would fit an 18 week gestation baby!

On the NILMDTS website they recommend that 25 weeks gestation is about the youngest that the photographers that volunteer through them should photograph because of the undefined features of the babies born before that gestation. Looking at that statement from a photography standpoint, I understand what they mean. However, I was so glad to hear that the area coordinator from our area does take pictures of younger babies. I know that Robby’s features weren’t well defined. I realize that his skin was still slightly transparent and that his eyes were still fused shut. However, he was my baby, and to me he was perfect.  I wish every single day that I could see those beautiful features of his again, even though they weren’t all well defined yet. I will do my best to advocate for the earlier gestation babies to be photographed because as the mother of a 23 week gestation baby- I long for pictures of Robby’s short time here on earth.

It was because of all of the love and generous donations of tiny hats and blankets that the last phase of Project Robby was such a success. We would love for you to be apart of this next phase of Project Robby!

Our mailing address is:

Amanda Smith
P.0 Box 783
Goddard, KS 67052

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