Today is Prematurity Awareness Day-- a day that represents a cause that is close to my heart.In the United States, 1 in every 8 babies is born premature, a statistic that lands us squarely behind most other developed countries in the world.
It is the leading cause of death in newborns.
This is heavy on my mind today because I was a preemie myself-- arriving just days after Christmas when my arrival into the world was supposed to have been around Valentine's Day. I am grateful for my life and good health-- for I know that others who have been born premature are not as fortunate.
But my thoughts today are with a friend of mine, whose infant son was born twelve weeks early on August 27th and continues to be cared for in the NICU of Loyola Hospital in the Chicago area. Thankfully, little Brayden continues to steadily improve despite a couple of scary infections that could have proved fatal. My prayers are with Brayden, my friend Derek, and his wife Heather, and my hope is that he will be able to spend this holiday season where he belongs -- at home with his loving parents.
To read more about Brayden's story and learn how prematurity affects families on a very personal level, please visit Heather's blog.
To find out how you can help the March of Dimes in their efforts to educate and eradicate the prevalence of prematurity in our society, please visit their website.
I think that of all the words that have been written on the subject today, Heather phrased it best in her poignant post:
Keep fighting for the ones who can't.
Beautiful post!! Thank you for reading and for helping the fight!
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