I can see how he could be triggering for someone who has experienced loss but he could also be healing for someone who has empty arms and the last memory she has of her baby looks a little like this.
I have lost a baby at almost 20 weeks and you have the coloring perfect.
Don’t worry too much, let people know that this is a hyper realistic early baby, created to look like a tiny preemie would look at this stage of development.
He is very realistic and beautifully done. I think you did it respectfully.
How long was he there @Katinafleming? Mine was only no food for I swear they said 48 hours (but that doesn’t seem right) until he finished passing blood from placental abruption. He only had the nasal canula for a few days and mostly stayed for the Bili lights and the required stay for his age
I’ve spent some time in the NICU visiting my “sister’s” babies. I have no desire to recreate the NICU experience in my own home with a reborn, but preemie reborns don’t bother me and neither do the hospital tubes and such. I’d prefer preemies without all the hospital stuff but I can see why some people would want that.
I don’t like when newborn reborns have a purple foot or hand as if their umbilical cord was wrapped around a limb.
Not thrilled with umbilical cords on newborns or reborns anyhow, it’s the grossest part of the baby to me, and would rather not be reminded of it.
It does sicken me if a realistic reborn looks gray and deceased but isn’t supposed to be a fun halloween prop. Zombie or gothy alt baby, fine. Baby head with a plant growing out of it, creepy and fun. Just straight up dead gray doll for no reason, I don’t want anything to do with it.
I’m glad most reborns don’t look like a newborn that hasn’t been cleaned up yet. That would just be gross.
As the mother of a baby born at 22 weeks (he’s now 17 years old), your work is authentic, genuine, and heart warming. We don’t all have full term babies, but our premies are just as precious. I for one am glad to see them represented in such a beautiful way. You keep making gorgeous babies and don’t worry about what anyone says. Make the art that flows from your heart!
Caedmon was there 7 days. He had ups and downs. But when his breathing clicked, it clicked and he did great from then on. What held us up on leaving was jaundice.
He was actually in the hospital until he was 18 months old. We practically lived there! We are his adoptive parents and met him when he was only a few weeks old. Even at a few weeks he could fit in the palm of my husband’s hand. They told us he would never walk, talk, see, hear, eat or breathe on his own. At the time, he was one of the he youngest surviving premies so they didn’t give us much hope. Today he’s a happy, healthy teenager. He is legally blind and has some delays, but he’s an awesome kid.
WARNING these are photos that may be hard to see ******Makes me happy to see these sweet heart preemies. My son Jacob born on April 7 died April 9. 2lbs 2oz You can see his coloring turning purple/black as he was taking his last breaths. He had a stage 4 brain bleed. I was put on a study at a Pittsburgh hospital for lupus anticoagulant disorder, when I got pregnant a few months later, I injected myself with Low Molecular Weight Heparin my entire pregnancy. I had a happy healthy boy the following year on April 11, Parker weighed 4lbs, stayed in Pittsburgh for a week came home weighing 5lbs This was 24 years ago, and that study helped many women that had multiple miscarriages, and the lupus anticoagulant disorder. I am proud that I was able to make a difference in many lives. If it were not for Jacob, I would not have Parker <3
Where do you sell your props? Do you mind if I ask how you handle the negative comments? I’m trying to figure out how to share him on my Facebook page and website respectfully. I never really thought about this when I was painting him, and I never thought of him as a sick baby, but a early baby who needs extra care.
Thank you for your thoughts! I want to take pictures with and without the props. I agree with you on the dead looking babies, they disturb me. Halloween/zombie babies kind of gross me out, but they don’t seem real to me so I don’t find them disturbing. The ones that aren’t bloody, like monster babies etc are pretty cool.
I’m actually painting an umbilical stump to go with his belly plate, haha. I think they are a little gross too, but I’m going for the most realism so I wanted his belly plate to also be that of a newborn baby. Just born babies are my favorite, and I kind of want to create the whole look of a baby seconds old at some point. I find so much beauty in the first moments of life, but I definitely understand people being grossed out by all the goo that comes with birth:)
Thank you for sharing your story! My second oldest child we adopted from foster care, and my youngest brother was also adopted into my family when I was a teenager, so adoption is very near and dear to my heart. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you while he was in the NICU so long, but how wonderful that he had you guys and that he defied the odds and is happy and healthy now!
Thank you for sharing your sweet baby. It’s so bittersweet that one so tiny and who lived for such a short time was able to be a hero for his younger brother. You are a hero for going through what you did, for blessing the lives of other mothers and their preemies. Your story is truly inspiring.
