Milestone cards to mark (and get the perfect Instagram picture of) your baby’s many firsts (crawl, solids, steps etc.) have been around for a few years now.
And they are, in fairness, all sorts of cute – and so perfect for marking all the little and bigger milestones the first eyar with a new baby is choc-a-block with.
But when American mum Amy Purling ended up having her baby 10 weeks early, she found having a premature baby came with so many little (but really momentous) milestones there were no cards available for.
Baby James arrived in February 2016, after his mum had been warned he might arrive a little early due to complications. “I was warned that he was going to come early, I have a misshaped uterus which was restricting his growth,” Purling explained to the Daily Mail. “I was high risk, but he wasn’t expected to come that early, I was told we could make it to between 36 and 37 weeks.”
To all mums, moments with your newborn are all equally exciting and special, but for parents of premature babies, Purling explains that he first weeks, months, and sometimes years for preemies can also be incredibly stressful.
Baby James was not only small, he also suffered from a life-threatening platelet disorder that prevented his blood from clotting. The little guy spent five weeks fighting for his life in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“He was born bruised and swollen, he looked like he’d been through a war,” Purling shared. “You feel empty, you feel guilty, like you’ve failed your baby somehow.”
But day by day, baby James got better and bigger and stronger, and Purling explains how one of the most cherished moments the family has is when the newborn was strong enough to be rested on his mom’s chest.
That day, a nurse took a photo of James’ new little milestone and that is what Purling says became her inspiration to document her son’s journey.
“I started writing a journal anytime he did anything new, the first time he opened his eyes,” she said.
Eventually, having arrived home with baby James, Purling decided to turn her experiences into a small business, called Miracle Mumma, where she creates and sells milestone cards for other families of preemies.
“I have made it my mission to help others who will go through the same,” Purling said. “I believe these milestone cards are helping to make this frightening time just a little bit brighter for these families.”
