http://jhenn.webs.com/ is collecting Ty brand Beanie Babies to give to hospitals that sterilize the toys and then use them to help the premature born babies survive in incubators.

A premature baby, or preemie, is born before the 37th week of pregnancy. Premature birth occurs in between 8 percent to 10 percent of all pregnancies in the United States. Because they are born too early, preemies weigh much less than full-term babies. They may have health problems because their organs did not have enough time to develop. Preemies need special medical care in a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU. They stay there until their organ systems can work on their own." -- Medline Plus

Babies born at 23 weeks have a 17% chance of survival
Babies born at 24 weeks have a 39% chance of survival
Babies born at 25 weeks have a 50% chance of survival
1 in 10 premature babies will develop a permanent disability such as lung disease, cerebral palsy, blindness or deafness. -- Tommy's Baby Chariety

Donate TY Brand Beanie Babies to aid in the care and growth of premature babies.

When children are born early and aren't quite ready to face the world on their own, they are placed in units called incubators(sort of a mechanical womb) to further develop. Air quality, humidity levels, temperature controls, oxygen supply and medical lighting is provided along with whatever medical requirements are needed to encourage the baby to survive! That is the over all goal, after all, for parents to have a healthy baby to join their family and go home with them.

While in the incubators, these tiny, struggling babies require constant care and movement to maintain and and keep them as comfortable as possible. This is the point where your donation of a small (like the Teeny Beanie's Mc.Donalds was giving out) or regular size Ty brand Beanie Baby is desperately needed! You see, the soft, moldable toy will be cuddled next to or under the tiny baby to hold tubing, equipment, and/or to adjust the infant in a position it is unable to hold on its own power (they're teeny tiny newborns, after all). Beyond the medical need, the baby also mentally needs these Beanie Babies! They are alone inside those incubators... while a healthy baby born on or close to it's due-date can be cuddled and held by its family, these premature babies often cannot be. Quite often, they are too fragile to even be bathed beyond having a cotton ball gently and lightly pressed against their skin. Without the Ty brand Beanie Babies, they would have nothing and no one to hold onto while in the incubator.

Hospitals frequently need two or three Beanie Babies for each baby, causing thousands of these small cuddlies to be needed on an annual basis! Your generous donation can touch these fragile little infants and provide them with comfort and necessary tactical input helping then have a better chance of going home to be held and cuddled! These children have a better opportunity for life with your donation, and since the Beanie Babies go home with the families once the baby leaves the hospital, it will be a constant reminder for the entire family and everyone they tell the story to that there are generous, caring people out there who can show love for a person they never even met.

Indeed, each child and family is greatly impacted by your donation. When the now struggling child is able to go home, the Beanie friend accompanies them as a friend and savior for life! A constant reminded of how somebody loved them enough to share such a wonderful little toy.

Please take a few minutes to gather your Beanie Babies, those of neighbors, friends and family, purchase one while doing your errands, ask at your school or place of work, or make a monetary donation for me to purchase them for you (I have a local source to purchase four Ty Brand Beanie Babies for $10! And Ravyn, my webmistress, is constantly on the look out for deals online)

Maybe you had some as a child you no longer play with? Maybe you have a few missing tags that you do not find valuable anymore? Perhaps you purchased a great deal of them but their value did not increase as you'd hoped? Please donate them! These infants don't care if they are expensive or not, they only care that the Beanie is great or new quality and is there for them!

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