March for Babies 2012

Updated as of April 20

We’ve celebrated a lot of baby-focused anniversaries lately – most recently on Jan. 28, when we celebrated my triplets’ homecoming anniversary. I’m still amazed that they were able to be discharged from NICU on the same day after 67 days of living close together but not really together until we all came home – together.

We’re moving on now to celebrate a year since we formed our very own March for Babies team. Our team last year was riding high on emotions still raw from when I went into labor and gave birth to three tiny people 12 weeks early. Family, friends and Internet strangers alike pulled together after reading through our 67-day NICU stay, celebrating the victories with us and feeling the gut-wrenching dread of those painful NICU difficulties. Our team celebrated our homecoming and rooted for us in the early days of triplets at home.

The atmosphere surrounding Peanut Butter Jelly Time is different this year. Our three heroes are walking, talking toddlers now, full of opinions and gusto with a dash of piss and vinegar. They’ve moved past their days of tiny NICU survivors, and despite hugging the bottom of the growth charts for their actual age, there are few people who would guess they had such a scary start to life.

We remember, though. You remember.

This year feels different, but the spirit of our team hasn’t changed. We still want to raise money to help March of Dimes research ways to prevent premature birth, to be able to detect and treat congenital birth defects. We still want to help March of Dimes reach out to pregnant women in our communities and help them care for their bodies and their growing babies. Every baby deserves a chance at a healthy start to life, and we are doing what we can to help that right reach more babies each and every year.

Please support our team this year. We’d love to walk with you in Charlotte on April 28 or to see pictures of you at the March for Babies event closest to you. To join with our team but walk in a different city, register with us then show up to your local walk. It’s that easy!

If you can’t donate your time, or you want to give more, donate any amount – even $1 from every set of eyes that reads this blog entry will make a big difference in what March of Dimes can accomplish. Want to give more? Great! Just please don’t wish you could give more than a single dollar and shyly back away. Every dollar counts in the end.

Hey, team members – check out the design for our shirts this year. The back is waiting on me to get to a photo scanner, but they’ll soon be Shirts are now available to purchase on CafePress again. No overhead cost will be applied, so the only cost is that which is needed to produce them.

front

back

You’ll need to order ASAP if you’re walking next week, or if you’d rather print your own iron-on transfer, leave a comment with your e-mail. I can send you the images, and you can make your own shirt. I think that’s what I’m doing since I don’t generally trust last-minute orders.