Celebrating Life

In just 3 short days we will once again participate in March for Babies to help raise money for the March of Dimes. This will be our fifth March, and over the years we have helped to raise over $16,000 in honor of Holland and Eden.

April gets to be a very busy and stressful month for us. John and I both have deadlines at work (tax season and end of school year referrals). Throw in a little pneumonia, Operation Feed Yourself failure, PMS, and a yearly girls trip (for me) scheduled one week from tomorrow, things start to get a little crazy. It happens every year that I start to lose my fund raising mojo. I have to reevaluate and ask myself, "Why am I doing this?"

So, why are we doing this???

First and foremost, we are doing this because we don't want other babies and other families to have to face the trauma, grief, and life-shattering reality of extreme prematurity. The March of Dimes is leading the way in bringing awareness to issues related to prematurity, and in funding research targeted at our personal goal of seeing fewer babies born too soon, and improving the care of babies in the NICU so that the long-term negative effects of prematurity can be minimized.

We also walk out of gratitude, for the role that the March of Dimes has played in making Holland and Eden's survival possible, and in celebration of their lives. There is still not a day that goes by that I am not reminded of their early birth on some level. There is also not a day that goes by that I do not remember how truly lucky I am. There are still many nights when I go into their bedroom to check on them before going to bed. I listen carefully for the sound of their breath and tears will spring to my eyes...because they are breathing...so calmly...so quietly...so peacefully. I don't take that for granted and I am forever grateful.

We walk in memory of the babies who did not survive, and for the parents who grieve their loss. My heart truly aches for those families, and I have shed many, many tears for them.

We walk for all of those reasons. We also walk because it gives us a sense of community and purpose, and a sense of giving back. We walk because we want to instill all of these values into Holland and Eden. We want them to understand the impact that their actions can have on the world. We want them to do their part.

We don't want them to take their lives for granted.

We want them to celebrate their lives!

John and I made our donation today. We donated 100 dollars for each pound that our babies weighed at birth. Won't you help us celebrate Holland and Eden's lives by donating a dollar (or 5...or 10) for every pound your baby(ies) weighed at birth?

Or give up that Venti Latte for just one day and donate $5 to our team in the hopes that someday fewer babies will be born too soon.

Every little bit counts!

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed so far. We read all of your comments and feel so lucky to have so many people, both in real life and online, who care so much about our family.

THANK YOU!


PS. Notice the new haircuts??? Aren't they adorable?!?!