Saturday, April 12, 2008

March for Babies 2008

Our Story

Four years ago, the Lord blessed our family with a beautiful set of twins, Joshua and Abby Kate. When we found out we were expecting TWO little babies, we were so excited! But that excitement was mixed with a sense of anxiety. As with most multiple pregnancies, we knew the odds of a premature delivery were very high.

Sunny went into premature labor at 20 weeks and was put on bed rest immediately. At 33 weeks, we went in for a C-section to deliver our twins. A weight discrepancy between our twins necessitated that we take them early. Joshua had IUGR and his placenta was aged, thus affecting his growth. Our children were born prematurely and Abby Kate spent 9 days in the NICU, while Joshua was there for 31 days. Those were the longest days of our lives.

Premature babies can suffer from a wide variety of health complications. Thankfully, our children were both healthy and strong, just a little on the small side. We will always be grateful for the special care our children received from the doctors and nurses of the NICU at this critical time in their lives. Since then, the March of Dimes has been a cause that has been very near to our hearts.

The March of Dimes helps give children like ours the attention and treatment they need. 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 mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.

Jason holding Joshua for the very first time!
This is a few hours after he was delivered by C-Section. At this time, Joshua's little arms were small enough for Jason's wedding ring to go all the way up his arm.

Jason holding Abby Kate for the first time.

Today was the March for Babies 2008 walk! We had such a wonderful time with our family and friends. This year we raised a total of $640.00 for the March of Dimes. We were a team of 4 families, that totaled 15 walkers! Below are some pictures from the day!







4 comments:

Bri Maharrey said...

So glad that things went well yesterday. You had some good weather which I know was a relief ;)

Stacy said...

Thanks for letting us share the day with you. We were glad to support a cause so important to so many of our friends, and we really enjoyed catching up with you all! :)

THE MORROW FAMILY said...

It looks like ya'll had a great time! That's awesome that ya'll raised some money to help out. I hope we'll be able to be there with you next year. :) We survived the wedding weekend. Whew! One down, few more to go! It really went great! :)

Ashley @ pure and lovely said...

that's wonderful! congratulations on raising some great funds for such a great foundation. those pics are so sweet. what a blessing your three beautiful children are. ;)