What can I do for my out of town friends with micropremie twins?

[marenmccoy]

Back in August I had heard that two friends of mine from college had twins. We don't really stay in touch anymore, but I had caught wind of it vaguely on Facebook, like you do.

Well last night I was thinking about them and missing them and wanting to see how they were doing. This is when I found out that the twins were born at 25 weeks and are still in the hospital. There is a lot of detail at thier CarePages. It looks like it's been quite a journey so far with many surgeries, etc. but they are both up to almost 4 lbs at this point, so that seems hopeful.

I feel terrible that I didn't realize the situation sooner. We live a couple of hours away from them. I'm not sure what I can/should do besides just saying "I'm thinking about you." For those who have experience with preemies, is there anything practical I can do to help? Do you think they are already inundated with little homemade knit preemie hats and gift cards and things? If not, can I send those things to them at the hospital? Is there something else that I haven't even thought of?

Also, I know everyone is different about how they feel about things, but is there anything that people always say to the parents of preemies that I should avoid saying? It seems like the kind of situation that would create I-wish-they-would-just-shut-up statements.

Thank you for your help.