Reborn Gunner

Ok, I may be crazy, but hey. I was searching online for preemie quotes, stats and books to use for Prematurity Awareness Month. When I googled, I stumbled upon an ebay auction for a “reborn” preemie doll. It hauntingly reminded me of Gunner. It was about .4 oz heavier and about an inch shorter, but it held a very strong resembelence to newly born preemie Gunner.


I contacted the maker. She is the mother of twin 33-weekers. She gets me and what I went through and may even understand why I would want a doll to remind me of the hell that I went through. Call me oblivious to be able to almost reflect on my experience with prematurity as something that was supposed to happen, but I sort of feel that it was. I look at my life now and cannot see anything I wouldn’t want to be doing. I have a healthy child, I am being very fulfilled through my advocacy with the March of Dimes, and I feel that I am truly making a small difference in the life of another person.

So I have decided to have Gunner reborn. The baby will be of similar weight and length to Gunner’s birth size. The baby will accompany Gunner and I to all of our March of Dimes events as a measure of how far he has come. The picture pales in comparison to what the finished product will be, but here is why I have to get this doll.

Yes, I am a grown woman who wants a doll for Christmas.