We were graciously given one copy of Peanut: A Storybook for Mighty Preemie Babies for this book review. All opinions are that of the blog contributor.
Sometimes preemie parents take their traumatic NICU experiences and turn them into something positive. Preemie mom, Lindsay Nolan, is one of these parents.
Lindsay never expected to become a preemie parent. “I come from a family of nine girls,” said Lindsay, “so I figured if my mother could handle pregnancy that many times, my first pregnancy would hopefully go nice and smooth.”
Unfortunately, Lindsay developed preeclampsia early in her pregnancy and her son Henry arrived at 32 weeks gestation weighing 2 pounds 15 ounces. He quickly dropped to 2 pounds, 5 ounces.
“My NICU experience had its ups and downs.” said Nolan. “I was so in love with my child. It was rare that I left the hospital in the two months I was there, only to grab a few necessities from home and return.”
To cope with the stress of having her only child in the hospital, Lindsay began writing a “love story” to her preemie son. “It was my way of documenting what happened for when he was older.” Eventually, the private love story transformed into a way to offer other preemie parents hope.
Her book, Peanut, was published in 2015.
This short book with simple sing-song rhymes is a sweet tribute to might preemie babies. There is some religious content, but it is mostly a love letter from a mother to her child. Lindsay illustrated the book with colored-pencil drawings based off of actual photos and events from Henry’s NICU stay.
“Peanut is a children’s book for our babies…and a love story for us.”
Lindsay hopes to offer support to other parents of preemie babies who share a common experience. “I decided to take a stab at publishing it as a way to offer support to parents I saw going through the same thing.” says Nolan. “I heard from strangers through Facebook – a friend of a friend would write me to tell me that it gets better and that they’ve been there, and I appreciated that support so much.”
“It is nice to know that you are not alone.”
For more information, visit www.peanutpreemiebook.com. The book is available for purchase on Amazon.
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