The Power of a Pink Octopus

Think Pink

Have you heard of the importance of an octopus in the care of premature babies?

No, me either.

That is until my granddaughter was born at 25 weeks and I started learning lots of new things.

This week for Sunday Stills the prompt is Think Pink and as I now have two granddaughters, there seems to be a lot of pink in my colour wheel – or theirs more to the point. We do try to mix it up a bit so it’s not all pink!

Granddaughters

Last year, my now one year old granddaughter was a month old, and I bought her a delightful, but not too pink, outfit at Floriade. I featured this in my post, In the Pink for Sunday Stills last October, so this year it’s only fair that I feature my newest granddaughter Dottie. Next year with my third grandchild due, who knows what I’ll feature??

Octopus love

When looking for suitable gifts to send to our newest baby we came across the octopus. Apparently, there’s a worldwide movement called Octopus for a Preemie. The quote below is taken from the UK website but there are groups all over the world who are involved in the making and sometimes selling of these little creatures. I love that they are used for comfort and wonder how this came to be? Who wakes up one morning and thinks to crochet an octopus for this purpose?

We are a group of people who crochet and knit little octopuses and jellyfish to comfort babies who decided to come into the world a little earlier than expected.

To the premature baby, our carefully made octopus’s tentacles feel like their mother’s umbilical cord. Comforting the baby and reducing the risk of the little one pulling the medical bits and bobs they may need and potentially cause serious problems for them.

Source

Apparently the making of the octopuses helps the person creating them as much as the babies who receive them. The link above (source) includes a pattern for those who may be keen to get involved.

Another great story about the power of a crocheted octopus can be read here: Premature babies gain comfort from crocheted octopuses, volunteers struggle to meet demand

Dottie and the Octopus

Dottie has a history of pulling out her cords and hopefully her pink octopus can help. It seems she has already taken to her little pink octopus, as you can see in this photo. I must admit that I didn’t take this photo, my daughter did, but I’m sure she’s happy for me to share it with you. Isn’t she looking cute?

Dottie is nearly 8 weeks old and now weighs 1.94kg (just over 4lb) which is fabulous when you remember she was born weighing 845grams! She is still being closely monitored and has had a rollercoaster of a time, sometimes it’s a case of two steps forward and one step backwards. She’s got a lot of love behind her and continues to fight, despite the hardships she is enduring. It’s still a long rocky road ahead for all of us.

Have you heard of the power of the octopus or is it as new to you as it was to me? From all my reading on the subject, it seems to be a well known and recognised fact, the octopus helps the premature baby in many ways. It’s nearly enough for me to look into learning how to crochet.

Deb x

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