Marching for Babies...

Tomorrow I am participating in a different kind of race. I am not going for a PR and the only winners are babies and their families. I am taking my kids and walking five miles in support of the March of Dimes. I am excited for a couple of reasons: 1) the kids think this is a "race" like the ones that Mommy runs in and 2) I am teaching them about getting involved and raising money for a good cause.



My friend, Sheila (pictured above) had a premature baby. He was one of the lucky ones. So many families go through even worse struggles than hers did. She was kind enough to share her experience with me.

As I stand and watch my three-year-old son, Ty, chase his friends around the International Houses after a grueling Stroller Strides workout, I am amazed to think that it was not always this way, that he was not always this way. Ty was born at 30 weeks, 3 days gestation due to severe early-onset pre-eclampsia, a form of life-threatening high-blood pressure I experienced during my pregnancy. Weighing in at a mere 2lbs., 14oz, Ty looked like an incredibly skinny toy doll nestled into the incubator. During his month and a half long stay in the NICU, Ty encountered immense trials and tribulations: ventilators and C-PAP machines to help him breath (we couldn’t hold him until he was 8 days old and breathing oxygen through a nasal cannula); a PDA, a valve in his heart that did not close, that luckily was healed with medication and not surgery; two blood transfusions, bleeding in the lungs; slow motility (his little digestive system was too premature to process any feedings); incredibly slow weight gain and growth. We brought him home from the hospital weighing 4 lbs and 1 gram. To ensure his heart would not stop beating (tachycardia) or that he would not stop breathing (bradycardia), Ty was on liquid caffeine from birth until 6 moths. His prematurity, coupled with the caffeine, caused Ty to experience horrific acid reflux, requiring medication twice a day for over a year. These caused difficulty in his eating and sleeping, which resulted in Ty staying below the growth charts for height and weight until he was over 6 months old. To compound matters, Ty’s prematurity caused physical delays that required intense, painful daily physical therapy for over 6 months. To this day, Ty receives annual vision, hearing, and neonatology screenings to ensure he is on track. If it wasn’t for the March of Dimes, I might not be standing here, running after my child, telling him not to throw dirt in the drinking fountain with his friends. Their commitment to research, education, community service, and advocacy ensures that babies like Ty receive a fighting chance against the threats to their health. I truly cannot thank them enough.

This is a picture of Ty now... amazing

Even while I am going through one of the hardest times in my life, I really do feel truly blessed. I have two healthy children and a loving husband. I have family and friends that love and support me. I am happy that I can walk tomorrow and run on Sunday to help give back. Won't you support my efforts? $10, $20? Or even $13.10 in honor of my race on Sunday??

Thanks!

Kindness of Strangers...

I was moved to tears at the supportive and encouraging comments that many of you left on my last post. Marathonman, you really touched me by suggesting that my readers sponsor my next marathon. You started a bit of a trend when several others followed your lead. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

As sweet and as generous it is for virtual strangers (or all we now really virtual friends?) to offer to help me pay my way, I am pretty confident that I will be able to come up with entry fees with birthday gifts. I am not 100% comfortable accepting charity...yet.

HOWEVER, in the vein of sponsorship, I AM fundraising for a much more worthy cause than my personal running endeavors. I am a team captain for the March of Dimes March for Babies in April for the Central San Diego Stroller Strides locations. I might even run my marathon for all the March of Dimes babies out there. I have been blessed with two very healthy children. I had good prenatal care and no major complications during my pregnancies. Many women are not so lucky. Money raised by the March of Dimes will help:

• support all-important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects
• educate women on things they can do to increase their chances of having a healthy baby
• provide comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care
• push for newborn screening and health insurance for all pregnant women and children
  
  
  
  

Thanks again for the encouraging words. I feel very lucky to have this outlet. I never would have thought that I would find such an inspiring and supportive group of readers. Writing about my running exploits has been such a wonderful release for me. To find a group of people who actually read it is more than I could have asked for.

happy running...