Our Growing Family

17 photos of adorable kids who were born prematurely, now holding their own baby pictures.

Every single day, babies across the world are born prematurely, which means that they’re born before 37 weeks of gestation.

In Canada, about 29,000 infants are born prematurely each year, roughly 1 in every 13. But in the United States, around 400,000 to 500,000 are born early. That’s about 1 in every 8 to 10 babies born in the U.S.

Red Méthot, a Canadian photographer and student, decided to capture the resilience of many of these kids for a school photography project.

“My son was born at 29 weeks and my daughter at 33 weeks,” he explained. “These are the kind of pictures I would like to have seen when my first child was born — they’ve been through that, and they are great now.”

Méthot said he knows not all preemie stories have a happy ending — one of his photos features a child whose twin passed away after they were born prematurely — but for so many kids who come early, they go on to experience a great life. 

Babies are really only newborns for about 4 weeks and that is the most tragic part of parenthood, I think. Except that newborns turn into infants and infants are super rad, too. Anyway, once babies hit that first month mark, they start to develop like weeds. I sat down with Alex and together we ranked the things we found the most helpful for us with Max in those first couple of months. There’s a ton more that we relied on, but these things really stick out as Max’s must-haves. I’d love to hear what you found super helpful for the wee little infant in your life.

Mobile: Don’t get one that lights up or makes noises. No, no, no. That’s incredibly too much stimuli for a baby. You just need one that will float in the air above your little one’s eyes. Max would stare at his mobile long enough for me to take a shower. How about that? You need a mobile.

Skip Hop Alphabet Zoo Activity Gym: This is the “jungle gym” Max has and we love it. We watched him reach so many milestones on this little activity pad. He would try to scoot across it only a few days old, and then we saw him first bat at the animals above his head, and then he would grab the animals, lift his head…. I am forever indebted to this toy we call his jungle gym. And, as a plus, he’s 6 ½ months old and still plays with it!

Tommy Tippee Closer to Nature Bottles: Of all the bottles we tried, these were the best for our breast-preferring little dude. If you have a baby that loves to nurse but could care less about a bottle, I definitely recommend these. They have a shorter nipple and a wider base… more like mama.

Ubbi Diaper Pail: You guys, this is the best. It doesn’t absorb the stench and those wet diapers can get rank. Even when they are super tiny, the ammonia can get to you. Totally worth the extra money.

Relax Melodies App: Forget the white noise machines. This app is free and you can make your own white noise melody. We have one for Max with an oscillating fan, monks chanting, white noise, and a seashore. It’s the calmest. (This is also good for meditation and yoga!)

Board Books: I started reading to Max pretty much immediately and at about two months he started really noticing the pages of the books. He’d “read” to me and say “ooey ooey ooey ooh” and point to the pages. This is a memory I think every parent should have!

Pottery Barn Kids Hooded Towel: We started out with so many baby towels when Max was born. Between poor quality and blowouts, this is the one left standing. It’s super soft and big enough that he’ll get use out of it for quite awhile still. Plus, certain colors are on sale!

Sassy Floor Mirror: This is it. This is the one toy you need to have. It has grown with Max since the very beginning. First he liked looking at the ladybug, bee, and his reflection. Then, he loved making the ladybug’s belly move. It was his first really successful attempt at hitting an object and seeing what would happen. Now, he still loves to hold his mirror. It’s simply the best.

Winkel Rattle and Teether: The winkel rattle is excellent. It’s easy for a baby to hold onto, has soft tubes and bright colors. We actually have the winkel lion and he kind of looks like a sun and so we call him “lion sun” which sounds funny when you say it.

Crane Drop Shape Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier: Babies get congested and the best thing to do is run a humidifier. An added bonus? If you cosleep, your skin is going to love that humidifier, too!