In 2025, our son was born at 30 weeks gestation, with a complex congenital heart defect.
He spent 103 days in the NICU and CICU at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. Over those three and a half months, we lived the gaps firsthand. Keeping track of rounds was overwhelming, and getting to know his growing and evolving care team was daunting. Everything lived in scattered notes, text messages, sticky notes, and journals.
Every day brought new vocabulary, new medications, new acronyms, and new faces. We learned fast, advocated constantly and figured out how to keep it all together one day at a time.
Our first project is Roo, a free NICU companion resource that helps parents feel more organized and in control during their stay. Available in English and Spanish.
Throughout our stay, we heard many of our son's nurses refer to their babies as "Peanut," which also happened to be the name of our Golden Retriever who waited patiently at home to meet her brother for 103 days.
Friends of Peanut is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Every dollar goes directly to building free resources and supporting NICU families. We built this because we've been there, and because every family walking into a NICU deserves to feel a little more prepared and a little less alone.