March for Babies!

As most of you know my journey through pregnancy was not an easy one. On more than one occassion we thought Bo was going to make his grand entrance into the world earlier than he needed to. I was diagnosed with preeclampsia, which is pregnancy induced hypertension. I was in and out of the hospital for weeks before my doctor decided to admit me permanently until he was born. Not a fun month in the hospital, however this was for my safety and more importantly Baby Bo's. It was a balancing act of keeping mom safe, as well as keeping him in as long as they could to prevent him being born prematurely. We were so fortunate to make it to 37 weeks and were blessed with the gift of a healthy, beautiful baby boy.

I tell you this story because not everyone is as fortunate as Jarrod and I were. Two of my very dear friends had babies that were born prematurely. The good news is that they both were very strong fighters and are now beautiful, active little girls, however the struggle that they had to fight and the emotional journey their parents had to endure...I just can't imagine. Being a parent now my heart breaks when Bo cries because of a gassy tummy, I can't imagine having to leave him in the hospital to fight for his life.

Our friends John and Cheryl have a beautiful little girl Cameron, who was born two and a half months early. She weighed only 3 pounds 4 ounces and spent 9 weeks in the NICU. She is about to have her 3rd birthday and is so adorable!

Cameron at birth.

Cameron now with her baby sister.

Many of you know our dear friends Robin and Patrick Jordan. You may not know this but their daughter, Clare was also born early at 33 weeks. She weighed 5 pounds and spent 2 weeks in the NICU. Clare will be turning 8 this October and her "Aunt Casey" can attest that she is definitely a fun, lively, tough little girl.

Every year, half a million babies in the U.S. are born prematurely. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death and many life long disabilities. The funds raised in March for Babies support research that saves babies' lives. The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.

Please join us in raising money to help support lifesaving research, services, education and advocacy that help babies get a healthy start. All you have to do is click on the March of Dimes link on the right side of my page. This will take you directly to Cameron's webpage with her story. Her mommy set the goal at $500, but I KNOW we can far exceed that amount. Every little bit helps! Thank you all so much!