Meet Preemie Milestone Cards creators Kirsty Munroe and Lizzie Serfas

When you’re babies are in NICU you can feel like you are missing out on “normal” mom activities like decorating a nursery or newborn photo shoots.

That’s why I’ve been thrilled to find so many new (to me) products and services geared toward preemies and preemie moms.

While doing research for the blog, I’ve made several cool connections like our friends at Go Preemies! children’s book, had NICU photography inspiration from Ree Barnes Photography and, recently, I’m obsessed with the adorable Premmie Milestone Cards from Aussie preemie moms (or premmie mums, as they say) Kirsty Munroe and Lizzie Serfas, founders of The Little One.

While it’s common for full-term baby moms to post photos with “1 week” or “1 month” milestone cards, preemie moms are clinging to each day, each ounce gained, and each milliliter consumed.  

Specialized milestone cards like Premmie Milestone Cards come in a pack of 36 beautiful designs used to visually capture  milestones unique to a premature baby’s  journey such as ‘My first kangaroo cuddle’, ‘My first breastfeed’, ‘No more CPAP for me’, ‘My first bath’. The back of each card includes space to write the date, age, weight and gestation of the baby when they reach the milestone.

I wish I would have had these, what about you!?

Get to know Kirsty, co-founder of The Little One, and read how you can win your own set of 10 digital Preemie Milestone Cards made especially for you! **This contest is now closed**

How did the Little One come to be? 

The Little One came to life not long after my first daughter, Poppy, was born seven weeks early. We didn’t have any tiny clothes to fit her, so my mum and sister went shopping and managed to find only one onesie small enough to fit her. We realized then that there wasn’t really anywhere online or in store that is a ‘one stop shop’ for everything a premature baby would need, from tiny clothes, to tiny nappies, pacifiers and even gifts. So we decided to create it!

The name ‘The Little One’ was a no brainer; this is what Poppy’s uncle calls her still to this day—and we love it!

What was the first year like?

The first year was pretty slow and we kind of wondered if we’d bitten off more than we could chew going in to online shopping with no prior knowledge! We knew that what we had was something that people needed though, so this kept us focused and pushed us along.

Our preemie nappies and our range of Earlybirds preemie clothing have grown in popularity. But the Premmie Milestone Cards continue to be our most popular product.  While we say “premmie” in Austrailia, we gladly customize cards to say “preemie,” kilograms to pounds, etc. for our U.S. friends.

Where did you get the idea for your popular Premmie Milestone Cards?

My second daughter, Essie, was also born prematurely at 31 weeks. I was using a set of milestone cards that were lovely, but none of the milestones were fitting Essie’s journey like sleeping in an open cot, reaching 2 kilograms or having her feeding tube removed. Yes, I took photos of these, but to most people they just look like yet another cute photo, not a huge milestone that needed to be celebrated.

So my business partner Lizzie, (who is also my sister!) and I came up with the idea of making milestone cards for premature babies, hence our second arm of our online business, Premmie Milestone Cards was born. We were determined to make a product that really celebrates a preemie baby’s journey and creates moments of joy for parents who are often going through the hardest journey of their lives.

The girls are doing AMAZING today! Poppy is 6 next January and going to start school and Essie is about to turn 3. They love helping me pack orders and often ask me ‘are you sending premmie cards today Mummy?’ when I’m in my study working!

How are your milestone card sets unique?

We put in countless hours of design work and research with over 100 parents of premature babies to determine the 36 most important milestones and those are what the set is made up of today. We worked hard to ensure the colors would work for boys or girls and the milestones fit babies that are just mildly premature all the way to milestones micropreemies might hit.

What has been the biggest surprise?

Our Premmie Milestone Cards have blown us away to be honest! We knew they were a hugely important product, but the way parents have embraced using them to celebrate their babies milestones is amazing. And the feedback we have received almost brings us to tears every time we hear that our cards have bought so many moments of joy and excitement for parents.

For a small business with pretty much no advertising budget, word of mouth through social media has been critical. Not to mention the fact that we’ve met so many wonderful people and created a special community that celebrates and supports families of premature babies. There’s nothing more uplifting than seeing photos of preemie babies hitting enormous milestones!

What do you see as the next evolution of the company, such as additional products or services? 

We have so many ideas and so little time!!!! We definitely have a ton of ideas around our Premmie Milestone Cards.

A new product that we launched a couple of months ago is Digital Premmie Milestone Cards. These are perfect for people who live a bit too far away for the postman, or who have discovered our cards a little way along their preemie journey and want a couple of the cards quickly. They can select their choice of cards and the number and then we email them through to them to print out at home.

We’re also working on another gorgeous product as we speak, but it’s still top secret, so stay tuned for that one!

Order Premmie Milestone Cards:
Internationally:
www.premmiemilestonecards.com.au

In the U.S.:
Perfectly Preemie (www.perfectlypreemie.com)
The Preemie Store (www.preemiestore.com

Connect on social media:
Facebook: @thelittleone01 and @premmiemilestonecards
Instagram: @thelittleone_insta and @premmiemilestonecards

Enter to win! 

**This contest is now closed**

***Want to win your own set of 10 digital Preemie Milestone Cards made especially for you?! Comment on this article with the milestone your preemie reached that you were MOST excited about and you’ll be entered to win. Winner will be drawn Oct. 6 at noon CT.