Fight for Preemies Month

One of the wonderful things I've found with being on Twitter is that I'm finding out about more information I never would have stumbled across. One of those things has been finding out that November is National Preemie Awareness Month. This is near and dear to my heart because my oldest son is a preemie survivor.

Tomorrow I will be sharing my story. Please come back tomorrow and read my post and share my link with your friends and family. I have shared my story with many folks because it is my hope that I can help prevent other families from going through the life long roller coaster of having a premature child. Or if you do find yourself in that situation, how to cope and what it feels like from a parent's perspective to live through the experience.

Today I wanted to share the following information from the March of Dimes http://marchofdimes.com/prematurity/index.asp regarding prematurity. If you aren't familiar with the March of Dimes, they are a wonderful organization which is involved with the fight for preemies. Here are some statistics which they have provided.

"Every year, over 20 million babies are born too soon, too small and very sick - half a million of them are born in the United States.

Do you know a baby that was born too soon, too small, unable to suck, unable to breathe on his own? Premature birth is a health crisis that jeopardizes the lives and health of nearly half-million babies each year. It is the #1 killer of newborns and can lead to lifelong disabilities. Worse: the number has increased 31 percent since 1981. It can happen without warning and for no known reason. Until we have more answers, any one's baby could be born too soon.

Medical advances have given even the tiniest babies a chance of survival, yet for many babies premature birth is still a life or death condition. It's the #1 cause of death during the first month of life. And babies who survive face serious health challenges and risk lifelong disabilities."

So, come back tomorrow so you can read about my story and learn more about what it means to have a premature child. Or as I like to call him my "little miracle".