On June 30, 2006, 2lb. 2oz. Hailye receives her seahorse from Project Seahorse's very first Seahorse Packet
First Project Seahorse Packet Presented to Six-Week-Old Hailye
The recipient of the very first Seahorse Packet achieved this honor through a simple misunderstanding.
Three days after the Savannah Morning News featured a nice human interest Father's Day article about our family and Project Seahorse, we received an e-mail from Tracy, a mother of a preemie in our town. She expressed her excitement about the idea, but then added, "I did not receive a Seahorse Packet," and asked if her family could have one. Since we were still several days away from having our first sample packets ready, Tracy's e-mail caught us off guard.
As I replied to tell her that we hadn't given out any packets yet, it occurred to us that Tracy and her family would be perfect to receive our first packet. We asked if I might be able to drop by the hospital on the following week to present Hailye and her family with the first Seahorse Packet.
When I arrived, I was so glad to meet Tracy, a faithful and energetic wife and mother who rejoiced in the fact that little Hailye had just surpassed the 2-pound mark. Social worker Kathy, who has been very supportive of Project Seahorse's efforts, greeted both of us as we walked back to meet Hailye. As soon as I saw Hailye, I was reminded of three things: 1) how beautiful a tiny preemie really is, 2) how tiny a beautiful preemie really is (had our children really been that small just seven months earlier?) and 3) why we're doing what we're doing.
While wonderful nurse Jennifer and other nurses worked with Hailye, Tracy and I talked for about an hour, comparing notes on life in the NICU, on the back-and-forth emotions that are so so natural yet so hard to deal with, and on a whole variety of subjects. Regardless of what challenges she might face, the devotion to Hailye that Tracy's family is displaying is nothing short of heroic. Hailye is blessed to have a team of incredible doctors and nurses and specialists who are assisting a team of incredible parents. Hailye is clearly not alone, and she is very much loved.
We had to stop our conversation short so that we could accomplish the mission for which I had set out. I presented Tracy with the Project Seahorse tote bag, with a brochure in the front pocket that explains the Project and gives five simple pieces of encouragement that are represented by the five gifts inside: a book on prematurity, which represents that the family is part of the team taking care of Hailye; a book for children, representing the fact that Hailye is a little girl who is not too tiny to hear a story read to her; a photo album, which represents the fact that Hailye is a beautiful girl whose picture should be taken often; a stressball, representing the tough love that the family will need to display; and, finally, the Seahorse.
We took out the Seahorse and presented it to Hailye. Tracy placed it underneath Hailye's arm, and helped her wrap her tiny fingers around it. I got out my camera and took a few pictures. And somewhere, in the moment, I was taken back to a tiny isolette in the Phoenix Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in November of 2005. And for just that moment, I was looking again into the cradle of a tiny baby girl who was good friends with a seahorse. And I was reminded again of how blessed I am.
We pray regularly for Hailye and for all of the other little boys and girls in our world who are born tiny. We pray that they will live long, healthy and pain-free lives. And we pray that their families will be strong, and will take courage, and will realize--regardless of their child's outcome--just how blessed they really are.
We hope that Hailye and her family received a great blessing, and a great boost, from the packet that we presented to them.
But I have to believe that we received an even bigger blessing and boost. Thank you, Hailye, for just being the precious little girl that you are.
[We are saddened to report that Hailye passed away from a sudden onset of NEC on July 5, just five days after we presented the packet to her. Again, we were reminded of the reason that we are undertaking this, and that short lives like Hailye's have just as much as meaning as those who live to be 100. Please pray for Hailye's family and for others who have experienced a similar loss in the NICU.]
--by Phil Roberts, written July 3, 2006