This month is prematurity awareness month and today is fight for preemies day. In support of that and the March of Dimes, I'm going to tell a little bit of Genevieve's story and hopefully raise awareness for the cause.
Genevieve was born on April 5 this year--five and 1/2 weeks early. Lindsay and I were extremely fortunate that she was surprisingly healthy and did very well. She did spend her first nine days in the hospital under observation although she never required the use of breathing aides or other serious medical help. She did have several apnea episodes where she stopped breathing for more than twenty seconds, and a couple of bradycardia in which her heart rate slowed too much. After leaving the hospital, we got to take her home with a portable monitor that we kept for a month to ensure that her vitals remained in order. Fortunately, she only set off the monitor a couple of times, and continues to develop normally. She was always able to get herself back to normal during all of her 'episodes,' but the experience was not a pleasant one, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Genevieve's was a very minor case compared to many preemies out there and my heart goes out to all families affected by premature birth.
The March of Dimes supports research in preventing and treating premature birth. If this is a cause that you feel compelled to support, please head over here.
Lindsay is posting a link to give in Genevieve's name on her blog tonight and it can be found here.
Thank you all for reading and your support!
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Wow, I guess I didn't realize Genevieve was a premie, so glad but scary too. I was a premie at 4.5 pounds, but back then that was considered really small and they have so many more advances to care for premies, thank goodness. My mom smoked which they say leads to more premature births. What a great cause for sure, thanks for reminding me.
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