AvaBaby’s Preemie Wear –  A valued Client

I had received an e-mail from Rebecca of AvaBaby’s. She was requesting information about our Tiny Bundles’ preemie clothing.

She had mentioned in her e-mail that she was the grandmother of a granddaughter that had been born at 26 1/2 weeks.

I had walked the walk of having a preemie baby, but had not walked the walk Rebecca had.  As I came to learn about Rebecca’s experience, I realized that she had walked a very different walk than I had.

First of all, my stay in the hospital was 4 days.  My baby came home with me in my arms.  She weighed all of 4 pounds, 4 ounces.  She was tiny.  And her arrival time was 5 weeks early.

Rebecca’s granddaughter, Ava, weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces and measured 13 inches in length and her first 3 months were spent in the NICU, a very different walk indeed.

“The arrival of a micro preemie and the NICU experience is entirely out of the ordinary and understood only by those who have been there,” says Rebecca.

One of the first pleasures the family had was being able to dress sweet baby Ava.  The difficulty in finding clothing for micro preemies during this most trying period, left Rebecca with the feeling that she would like to offer these hard-to-find items to other families in this same situation.

What really sealed this desire was the birth of Ava’s brother, Cash.  Also a preemie, he stayed put a bit longer.  His arrival was 7 weeks early and although he weighed 5 pounds and 6 ounces, he had a short stay in the NICU as well.  Even at this weight, it was still hard to find clothing that would fit him at the local mall.

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Rebecca while delivering her Tiny Bundles’ order.  She had shared with me one of their experiences while in the NICU.  She said that she and her husband were able to bond with Ava by placing one hand on top of Ava’s head and the other hand at her feet.  They were able to cradle her with love this way and bond in this special way that no one else could.  How that touches my heart.

Rebecca has scoured the world to find clothing designed to fit the tiniest of preemies ranging from 1 to 6 pounds.  After visiting her website at www.avababys.com, I think you will agree that she has done a fine job of securing clothing and accessories for micro preemies.  Her Internet retail website is nicely designed with the use of calm, tranquil colors.  You want to stay and visit a while.  Make sure you take a look at the image of baby Ava while still in the NICU.

 Our hat is off to you Rebecca for not only seeing the need but filling the need for those families with very early arrivals.

I  met her at the Los Angeles Textile Show in 2004.  She was a referral from my sister.  

So when I entered her booth, I found a competent and friendly sales rep that willingly listened to my needs and addressed them by patiently pulling out book after book of possible appliques.  Her excellent service did not stop there.  She meticulously noted which appliques I was interested in and had the company send me each applique beautifully presented and encased in plastic, which was used to keep the appliques in place.  Her attention to detail is impressive.  Little did I know then that . . . . 

Fast forward to 2007.  Okay.  I was looking to really beef up our applique collection.  Up to this point, I had been purchasing appliques that everyone else could purchase from several different trim companies.  Time to kick it up a notch and start to create our own look and our own image in the industry. 

I remembered the easy chemistry I shared with Karen Jacobson and I knew that when the time came for me to call her, I would be received with a welcoming voice.  And that is just what happened.  

I told Karen what my plans were.  I learned during our conversation that Karen had earned degrees from Pratt and Otis.  I also learned that Karen has 7 years of experience as a textile designer, showroom assistant and trim specialist and sales rep.  She knows the business well. 

What I really like about Karen is that she knows how to watch the bottom line.  If I want a certain look, she gives me several different options to achieve that look without breaking the bank.  And that’s what every business owner wants. 

Since that time, we have had the good fortune of welcoming Karen Jacobson, sales rep turned designer, to our design staff.  She takes our concepts and turns them into reality, a finished product, and does so with her own special flair.  We get all of this and have fun in the process. 

At the beginning of this New Year, we have had the wonderful pleasure of presenting 3 new exciting and exclusive collections to the Tiny Bundles’ line of quality baby clothing.  We have added a Custom Patch Collection, which features a few of the most popular nursery rhymes, a Double Patch Collection, layering of fun fabrics topped off with a fashion forward, cutting edge applique and an Animal Felties Collection, sweet felt animals and their associated food items.  Think dog, think bone.  Think elephant, think peanut, etc.  Each collection is unique in style and attracts a different audience.  

You can find all of these collections on our brand new web gallery located on our Tiny Bundles’ website at www.tinybundles.com. Come and see what we are talking about and why we are so excited and we invite you to visit often as we will continue to add fun new appliques to our newly established collections.   

With Karen a major player on our design staff, the future couldn’t be brighter.    

The phone rang “Tiny Bundles,” I answered. It took me a while to realize that I was receiving a phone call from a gentleman with an Irish accent, calling us directly from Ireland. He had happened upon our tinytinyclothing.com website and had an interest in our clothing. We chatted for what seemed like a good long while. I felt a surge of happiness and excitement as I hung up the phone and thought about this possible business opportunity in a faraway country.

What did I really know about Ireland? I began to wonder. For starters, I had learned from the phone conversation that there are no zip codes in Ireland outside of Dublin. A quick google search told me that Ireland is 1/2 the size of Arkansas, that their national symbol is the Celtic Harp, not the shamrock and that Oscar Wilde and Bram Stroker are included as famous alumni from Trinity College in Dublin, Irelands’ oldest university. And seeing that baby clothing is our game, I found learning about Irish baby names interesting. For instance, Aidan - pronounced “aid-an,” means “little fire.” This name is often used in remembrance of St Aidan of Iona. Cian - pronounced “kee+an,” means “ancient” and is, in fact, a very old name associated with a son-in-law of King Brian Boru. And what about girl names? Sinead - pronounced “shin+aid,” is Irish for Jane, the feminine version of John. Fiona - pronounced “fee+nuh,” is from the Irish word “fion,” which means “fair” or “clear.”

Well, lucky are we to have found ourselves fortunate to be able to ship our first shipment to Ireland at the beginning of this new year. Our hats are off to you Baby Nation of Ireland. We are happy to know that your sweet babies will be sporting about in our Tiny Bundles‘ comfortable and fashionable clothing. If there are any readers from Ireland with us, we would love to learn more about your country.

To end on an interesting note, our physical street address is Ballybunion Square. With what we do, Bellybutton Square would have been more fitting. Upon closer research, we find that Ballybunion is a famous golf course located in Southwestern Ireland, established in 1893 and known as the finest golf course in the world. Imagine that!