Tuesday, November 17, 2009

November 17th

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day! If you feel so inclined, please click on the link below and learn a little about the March of Dimes mission. They do so much more than find new ways to treat preemies - their goal is that one day there are NO preemies, and they have played an integral role in helping determine the course of prenatal treatment that pregnant women get today. Did you know that it was a MOD research doctor that discovered the importance of folic acid and made the recommendation that pregnant women take this supplement? So it's not just those of us that have preemies that owe something to the MOD. All parents have benefited from their research - and don't even know it!

http://www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/index_map.asp

Today also marks 5 years that Gavin has been home with us! It was this day in 2004 that we carried him out of the hospital. The weather was a little warmer than it was today, warm for a November day. Putting him in the car, he finally felt like he "belonged" to us. We no longer were on the hospital schedule, no longer would we walk through a crowded parking lot and check in with a front desk clerk just to see him. Gone were the tubes, the monitors, the wires. He was just.....ours. Finally.

Between our two boys we have spent 99 days in the NICU. Thanks to the excellent prenatal care I received, it wasn't more than that. Let's never forget the miracles these little boys represent, not only in themselves, but all the tiny babies that have made the fight out the hospital doors. Unfortunately, not everyone makes it home, and THAT is why this mission is still so critical.

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