I had this wonderful New Year's Resolution to blog regularly. Clearly, that's worked out well...but since my last post was about Prematurity Awareness Day, it's fitting that this one will be about the 2011 March for Babies.
If you're reading this blog, it's likely that you already know the story of Sarah's birth. Born 13wks too soon. "Typical" preemie complications (which are never really typical). 12wks on some form of oxygen. 16wks before she came home. But since I'm such a blog slacker, many of you might not know how she's doing now.
Sarah is 19mos old. She's been in daycare since late August and is doing surprisingly well. We had a rough start as Sarah adjusted to the germs but she's handled the winter like a champ. Quick, someone knock on wood!
Sarah likes the park. She likes to wave at cars (full of strangers) as they drive by. She's a great sleeper. She likes to try new foods. Her newest word is "apple"...though it comes out "bapple". She insists on brushing her (seven) teeth twice a day. And she LOVES her dogs.
Right now, the one glaringly obvious sign of Sarah's prematurity is her size. At 19mos, Sarah is 28in tall and weighs 18.5lbs. She's the size of a 9mo old. But don't tell her that. Developmentally, she's right on track for her actual age (thanks in part to the wonderful team of thearpists that we see thru our county's KidsFirst program) and she certainly has the sass and spunk of a soon-to-be 2yo.
We're proof that prematurity isn't "cured." It doesn't magically go away at a certain age. It lingers. And we'll never really know what lies around the next corner. We've learned to roll with the punches. And we definitely don't sweat the small stuff.
On April 30th, Team Sarah will once again March for Babies in an effort to raise money and awareness for the March of Dimes. Simply put, the research and the therapies that the MoD funds and supports saved Sarah. I'd say that's worth a bit of fundraising on our part!
You can support Team Sarah two ways: 1) sign up to walk with us or 2) donate to our mission. You can do either of these things at my March for Babies page: www.marchforbabies.com/teamsarahfrancis
Brandon and I are also working on a fun raffle of sorts for anyone who donates - more on that soon!
We march in NINE WEEKS and we really need your support to make Team Sarah a success for the second year in a row! And really...who could say no to this face?!
