Years after her child’s own health struggles, a local mom has found a unique way to help other mothers. Jamie Gautreau’s inspiration began when her daughter, Addison, was born 10 weeks premature at Woman’s Hospital with multiple health issues. Addison spent five weeks in Woman’s Newborn and Infant Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after having lifesaving surgery at barely 24 hours old.
Addison has since blossomed into a wonderful seven-year-old with dreams of becoming a doctor. In that time, Jamie realized a dream of her own – becoming a business owner. She became a sales consultant for Thirty-One Gifts, a company that specializes in personalized bags. She originally joined to support her love for bags, but soon realized she could use her commission to help others. Jamie is now a senior consultant and donates all of her commission to different charities.
When thinking back to her NICU experience with Addison, Jamie remembered having to transport breast milk to and from many doctor’s appointments. As a Thirty-One Gifts sales consultant, she came up with a great way to make life a little easier for NICU moms toting their breast milk.
With fundraising help from Lil Bambinos Playtorium in Gonzales, Jamie packaged 150 thermal totes filled with items such as water bottles, journals, pens, bookmarks, Chap Stick, nail files, baby blankets, Subway gift cards and much more. She recently visited Woman’s NICU to donate the gifts.
She hopes the gifts will make life a little easier for her fellow NICU moms. “Having a premature baby is harder than you can imagine,” Jamie said. “It truly changes you and how you view life.”