New mom gives back to help others in Greeley's neonatal intensive care
Nonprofit program provides gift bags for families with new babies
Nicole Cox, left, and registered nurse Melissa Smith, pose with one of the bags Nicole is donating to the neonatal intensive care unit at North Colorado Medical Center.
This was the first time I ever had pregnancy complications. It’s shocking and really hard. Until you go through it you don’t really know.

GREELEY, Colo. -- Nicole Cox did not expect her newborn son to arrive early. She hadn't planned for Liam, born at 34 weeks, to stay 27 days at North Colorado Medical Center's neonatal Intensive care unit. She wasn't ready for the emotional roller coaster that comes with having a premature baby.

Now, with Liam on his way to becoming a healthy Infant, Nicole Is using her experience to give back to other moms on the same journey. Through "Love From Liam," Nicole Is providing bags stuffed with helpful goodies for the families In the NICU.

“This was the first time I ever had pregnancy complications,” Cox said. “It’s shocking and really hard. Until you  go through it you don’t really know.”

In early October, Cox returned to the hospital's Level 3 special care nursery with many bags in tow to give to moms who are living through what she went through with Liam. She shared the bags with hospital staff to give to new mothers. The hope is to make their stay a little easier, at least for a moment.

Cox’s care packages were filled with thoughtful items such as hair ties, lip balm, gum, snacks, stress balls and coloring books. She had nearly 30 bags and hopes to turn Love for Liam into a nonprofit organization and continue giving back to moms in the NICU in Northern Colorado.

“The hardest thing is to carry a baby inside of you for so long and then have to leave the hospital without them,” she said. “I started talking with other moms after my experience and wanted to give back to moms in the same situation.”

After talking with moms and doing some research finding a nonprofit organization in Idaho that does a similar thing, she started pitching the idea to Facebook friends and soon the donations rolled in.

Now that she has distributed the first round of gifts, she hopes to continue to build Love for Liam and grow it into an ongoing legacy for her son and other premature babies.

Autumn Woltemath, associate director of NICU and pediatrics, said the gifts will help moms pass the long hours waiting In the quiet NICU.

To learn more about Nicole's program, visit @Love From Liam on Facebook.

Nicole Cox and Melissa Smith.
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