As the mother of a preemie, particularly one as early as Robbie was, I know far
too well the power of research.
When I was 26 weeks pregnant (not even into
my third trimester yet) I was suddenly stricken with what I thought was terribly
heartburn. Two days later, I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia. The
"heartburn" turned out to be my liver swelling. My blood pressure was
dangerously high, my body was filling will fluid that threatened to shut down my
organs and, without Robbie's early birth, would have killed us both.
Preeeclampsia is one of the oldest recorded conditions, yet we still don't
have a cure. Organizations like the March of Dimes are dedicated to changing
that, and in the mean time, trying to save the babies who come too early because
of it and other pregnancy complications.
I would like to shake the hands of
every researcher who has fought to save our children. Since that doesn't appear
to be an option, I will instead focus my efforts on supporting those who hope to
eliminate prematurity and infant death.
I hope that you will join me in my
mission, either with a monetary donation of your own, or simply by joining me in
the walk for awareness.
--Trish
Proud mother of a boy who defines the
adage "Good things come in small packages."
The mission of March of Dimes is
to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth,
and infant mortality.
This foundation was introduced to me by someone I also met through my mommy forum, Kierstin. Her neighbor lost a child, Charlie, to cancer. Here is a little about Charlie.
Charlie was diagnosed on April 19, 2004 with a very aggressive form of pediatric
cancer, neuroblastoma. He endured chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, and
radiation and was cancer free in January of 2005. He unfortunately relapsed on
his first day of 2nd grade in 2005. He lost his battle on September 19, 2006.He
was the most courageous little boy and has taught many of us more than we could
have ever taught him. He always wore a smile even though he endured so much pain.
He never gave up his will to live. Unfortunately, neuroblastoma is too sneaky
and aggressive and that is why it is so very important to rally and raise money
in his memory. So, our team, Charlie's Angels, will be participating once again
this year to continue to bring awareness in Charlie's memory as well as all the
other children fighting this dreadful disease. Please help us find a cure!
I hope by now you have received your Valentine cards from the girls. If not, they are on their way. Chloe and I made her Valentines this year, well I made then with her help. They are flowers pops. I don't remember which blog I saw them on but where that blog pointed me to was Skip to my Lou. When I saw them I knew I wanted to make them for Chloe. While I do like the store bought ones (which we did last year), when I went through her cards from last year, I have to say I liked the ones that were hand-mom-made the best. So I wanted to do that this year. 
Chloe is writing her name on the leaves.
Look how well she is starting to write her name. Can you tell what all the letters are?
The lovely bouquet of dum dum flowers.
Uh
Ohnote: I really wish you could hear her when she says "uh-oh," her tone is so darn cute with her over emphasis of her lips. =)
Dave and I both received something as well, Dave a shirt and I got a pajama shirt. Love it! The last thing they showed us was their new Wii game, Toy Story. The picture above is the girls "helping" grandma play the game. It is alot of fun and my parents said it is almost exactly like the ride at Dis.ney World. I guess we will see next year.
