Life Is Good: March for Babies!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

March for Babies!

Today was the day! It was fantastic! If you missed it...you really missed something great. Today was the March for Babies Walk. It started out cold this morning. I tell you what...this Oklahoma weather. You got love it! 90 one day 60 the next. How crazy is that? So the morning started out quite chilly, but it was good for one thing...motivation. Motivation to get moving!

We arrived at the OKC Myriad gardens at about 8:30 this morning and registered. We ate a couple of donuts, reconnected with great friends, and waited for the words "lets go". Around 9 we were formally welcomed to the March for Babies, met the Oklahoma Ambassador family, and commenced with a light warming-up session. Hey, it was cold...why not warm up!

There were 2 options for walkers. One was the long walk, and the other was the short one. Part of our team decided to brave the long walk...5 miles. They later confessed to taking a shortcut. Part of our team took the short walk. Now for those of you that chickened out on us because you thought you couldn't walk that far here is some information for you so you can't use the same excuse next year. The short walk was merely around the city block on which the Myriad Gardens sits. It's beautiful all the way around.

We walked on the sidewalk at very leisurely pace. It was great to stroll around the block visiting with other families of miracle preemies. I met a lady, Jennifer, and her team who have a little girl named Mackenzie who was born 10 weeks early. Mackenzie is now 3 and very cute. It was great to meet the family and visit while we walked. Before we knew it we were being directed back into the street so we could cross the "finish line" and receive our prize...a sticker. I was left wanting to walk a little more! It was short. So next year I expect our team to be HUGE!! No excuses. If you think you can't walk the short walk just bring yourself a wheelchair. Maybe somebody will push you.

After the walk we spent the rest of the morning lounging on the grass in the warm sun, visiting with friends, watching the kids play, eating free food, and dreaming about next year. Next year we are hoping to design t-shirts for our team, have fundraisers, and make it BIG! It was such a fun day, and to spend a day with hundreds of people so closely affected by prematurity was awesome. Until you've walked the road of prematurity you never fully understand how amazing (and challenging, and heartbreaking) it can be. Please consider joining us next year.

Pictures coming later.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander