mama believer

This weekend Mr. Romance, the girls, and I participated in the March for Babies (supporting March of Dimes). Last year, I was the only person who walked. This year, I talked Mr. Romance into going with me. Of course, we couldn't leave the girls behind.

Both of my pregnancies resulted in early labor. My a miracle from God, our girls were still born healthy. We had a lot of developmental issues with them after they were born, but we were lucky to not spend even one day in the NICU.

Last year, I was fortunate to get to know this other mother online. Sadly, it was because her daughter had just passed away. They were huge supporters of March of Dimes. Due to her daughter being a preemie, she had a lot of health problems and that would eventually be too much for her little body to handle. She passed away last year. She was C's age.

I learned a lot about March of Dimes through this mother. There's currently an average of 500,000 babies born prematurely every single year. Someday, the March of Dimes is going to change this. The numbers have already started decreasing over the years, but we're all looking for that number to drop to zero. And I believe it will - someday.

Knowing everything that March of Dimes does, it has become a cause close to my heart. We were super lucky to have our babies turn out healthy. Other parents have sadly watched their babies pass away or struggle a lot harder than we have developmentally. Our struggles are nothing compared to what other parents deal with.

Still... when it comes time to March for Babies, I can't help reflecting on those moments of pregnancy that terrified me. We almost lost H. By some miracle, she was delivered minutes before she would have died in the womb. As for C, she was an even harder pregnancy that ultimately resulted in our decision to stop getting pregnant.

This was the first year that the girls participated in March for Babies. While C is still a little young to understand, I was surprised that H took such an interest in it this year. She translated it to mean that were there to walk for babies who are sick. When we got there, she asked me where the babies were. I pointed out the local ambassador baby for this year and we learned of his story. While I don't expect a 4 year old to understand things like this fully, she was proud to be there and make a difference.

I don't know when I will tell the girls about their own births and why this cause is so close to our hearts. I suppose the right moment will come.