Greetings from the 2011 Ambassador Family!

Gunner, 6-5-2009

Greetings from the 2011 March of Dimes Ambassador Family!  Our son, Gunner was born two months too soon.  This was after pPROM at 28 weeks (water breaking way too early). After five weeks, 1 day of hospital bedrest, further complications arose, necessitating an emergency delivery.  Gunner was a fighter from day one.  I remember the scream he let out while trying to breathe with his immature lungs.  If it were not for the research funded by the March of Dimes that found a way to make synthetic surfactant, many babies born closer to their due date than he was, wouldn’t make it. 

 

Gunner spent 39 days away from his family, in the NICU.  When he was born he couldn’t breathe on his own, couldn’t maintain his temperature, and couldn’t eat like full-term newborns.  He lived in an isolette to keep him warm, he ate through a tube, and he had to be monitored 24 hours a day to make sure he remembered to breathe.

The NICU at Bronson took amazing care of our son!  It was obvious with his special needs, he wasn’t ready to come home.  As he got bigger and stronger, our family learned what we needed to do to keep him healthy once he came home. The March of Dimes provides support for parents while in the NICU and education to help them take their children home safely.



Mother's Day, 2009, Bedrest instead of Breakfast in Bed!



 

These emotional experiences have pushed us to get involved with our local March of Dimes.  Supported by the most amazing family and friends, we did our first March for Babies in 2010 in honor of our son.  I still cannot believe that we raised almost $3000!  This year, we proudly represent the Kalamazoo Division as the Ambassador Family and we can’t wait to help others fight for babies!

 



 You can start by logging in at http://www.marchforbabies.org/, this will allow you to start you team and electronically enlist the help of your friends to give every baby a healthy start! I can’t wait to meet you and your family at the walks, April 30th at Battle Creek Health System and May 7th at Celery Flats Historical Site!  I would be more than happy to help you at any step of the way…feel free to email me at clyoungsey@yahoo.com  I will also be keeping a blog featuring information and pictures of the event at http://www.kalamazoomarchforbabies.blogspot.com/.

 



Christi Young

March of Dimes Ambassador Family Mom

Gunner, 11-1-2010