Why the Octopus?

Shortly after Molly’s CDH repair surgery, she had a number of extra tubes to help with drainage, one of which was a “sump” that went in her mouth and down into her abdomen. It didn’t take long for her to start grabbing onto this, and for anyone near her to try and latch her little fingers onto something else so she would not pull out the sump. In sharing updates with our family and friends, Finn’s caregiver asked if she could have a NICU octopus. We had never heard of this and asked for more details. Over the last decade, crocheted octopi have popped up in NICUs around the world, and shown to have a positive effect on these sick babies. The idea is that the tentacles simulate the umbilical cord in their mother’s womb and lessens the desire to pull on all the tubes and monitors. They also have been shown to have a calming effect by having a “buddy” in their bed with them.

Molly was fortunate to have not just one, not two, but three octopi that we cycled through as we had to make sure to wash them regularly to prevent any infection. As we all know, Molly was very sick, but her nurses always made sure she had her octopus to bring her a bit of comfort. For this reason, the octopus symbolizes so much for us in our time with her, reminding her of mom and dad when we couldn’t be there as well as how much everyone at CHOP came to know her, care for her and fight for her too. There really was no other choice when deciding on the imagery to go along with this run.

For more information about how the Octo Project got started, click here. A fair warning though, this project started in Denmark, and as such this page was originally written in Danish so parts of it may not translate as well!