Beth was born 14 weeks too early on January 31, 2006 and weighed 1lb and 15 oz. Now a healthy little girl, this blog discusses her journey through the NICU and now as a "graduate" navigating the world with her family at her side and her twin sister, Julianne, watching over her from Heaven. God took Julianne to be an angel at His side but gave us Beth so we would be warmed by her smile.
Much of my goal for writing this blog is to help parents of preemies deal with the stress and fear of having a child or multiples in the NICU. I encourage these parents and care-givers to look at my early blog entries (use the archive below) from Beth's journey through the NICU (Feb. 2006 to May 2006). Our experiences may be of help to you. My second goal is that these images and stories of a former micro-preemie who is now a young girl will help you look forward to the time your child or children will be home with you. You will have a wonderful future with your child so try to hang on until that magical day when they tell you "it is time to take your baby HOME!"
Our event was Saturday night and it was...pure magic! We had a packed house and the mood was amazing. So far we have counted $30,000 in donations and proceeds from the silent auction, live auction and donations. I don't think I'll ever forget the experience.
This is a link to a slide show that was created by one of the committee members. As you would expect, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Mike and I were particularly moved not only for seeing Beth's photos on a huge screen with beautiful music, but we remembered Julianne. Only a few people in the room knew about our loss. While we did happily celebrate the beauty of Beth's life and the other babies who have made it, we can never forget that tiny Julianne never had a chance.
I have been passionately committed to seeing this be a successful event. Others asked why I spent so much time on the effort. I didn't always give them the full answer because I don't like to talk about our loss. I was driven not only because I wanted to help other families deal with the NICU experience, but because I wanted to validate Julianne's existence. In putting more of my life into something worthwhile, I give her ...life.
It has taken weeks to dig out from under the yards of Yellow fabric that littered my dining room. For some reason, I insist on making costumes. I do love making them but at some point during the middle of each project, I curse myself. In the end, the effort was worth it!
This little kitten weighed just 15 ounces when we got her. She had taken residence in someone's yard with 4 other kittens and a wild mom. She seemed too small to take from her mommy but the women who had her was clearly ready to get them out the door. I couldn't risk losing her (and besides, I know how to bottle-feed kittens now).
Charlotte is a little too aggressive with her (Charlotte is going to be the world's biggest cat...just wait and see) so we can't let them stay together without supervision.
We have named her Chloe. Now both kids have a kitten to play with and they do seem to mimic each kid: Charlotte is a Tasmanian devil (Elliott's buddy) and Chloe is sweet and tiny but we sense a mischievous streak (just like Beth)!
My friend Robert David Bretz is donating proceeds from his 2010 calendar to the Friends of NICU. I know all I do is write about the NICU event and foundation these days but I can't help it.
If you have need of a calendar, please consider buying one of these. I will be buying them as year-end thank-you gifts for my clients. Perhaps your company would like to do so as well??
Elliott is a big kid now! I notice that the shape of his face is changing, becoming more angular, more knowing, more grown-up. Yes, I am melancholy thinking that my children will grown up and one day not need Mike and me. In the meantime, we are going to enjoy every minute!
Elliott's birthday was a lot of well-deserved fun. The week before was filled with professional and personal... set-backs... but none of them compared to the call we received a scant 5 days before the party...AdventureLand closed its doors and we had to find a new party venue!
All told, I am grateful that AdventureLand had the courtesy to call me ahead of time to not only refund our deposit but to let us know their doors would be locked on Friday. Can you imagine 20 kids showing up on a Friday afternoon with the doors locked and a giant OUT OF BUSINESS! sign in the window? I spent the entire five days scrambling to find a new location (Sunrise Fun Center) and contact his schoolmates and best buddies.
Sunrise Fun Center came through with flying colors! We had the party corral in the middle of the park, set the kids up with miniature golf, car races and the water-balloon wars. It was a beautiful afternoon and even I managed to relax and chat with friends (thanks to my mom, Mike's mom, Grandpa Ron and my brother, Mark for all their help).
Mike had the "exhausting" task of being co-pilot to the kids under 52 inches. I'm not sure who had more fun, Mike or Elliott? Notice how Mike intentionally tried to look cool in this photo? Was he trying to impress his bride or try to keep from crashing the car?
Happy Birthday, Elliott! I hope you had a day as magical as you are!
I am helping promote an event that will raise money for families who have babies in the NICU. It is called Celebration of Miracles and it takes place on Saturday, November 14 in Historic Folsom at the Lake Natoma Inn. We will have a nice dinner and be entertained with dancing and wine tasting. We will also have a silent auction with some amazing gifts!
Our title sponsor is Mike's employer, ECO:LOGIC Engineering. We have many other sponsors including nearly $6,000 in advertising space in Gold Country Media newspapers (six ads in The Folsom Telegraph, El Dorado Hills Telegraph, Granite Bay View and the Roseville-Press Tribune). This is giving us prime space to promote our sponsors so please let me know if you'd like to be a part of this as a donor.
Tickets are $45 per person or $80 per couple if purchased in advance (buy them now because they are selling at a brisk pace!). You may purchase tickets from me or at the Celebration of Miracles website where you can also see our sponsors and donors to the silent auction.
This event raises money for Friends of NICU which operates under the auspices of the Mercy Foundation. That means that 100 percent of our contributions go directly to the families in the form of meal vouchers, hotel stays, gas cards and other necessities for the babies and their families. There is such a critical need for this. I remember seeing families who had to drive 2, 3 even 4 hours or more just to visit their babies in the Mercy San Juan NICU. Many families had little extra money to pay for hotel stays. It broke my heart to see siblings waiting outside the locked NICU doors while mom and dad tag-teamed just so they could have some time with their babies.
The social worker tells us that there is government assistance to help families but what is missing is the helping hand--the reaching out by someone who says "Here, take this. It came from a family who loves babies, too." The look in their eyes is pure gratitude. They have one less thing to worry about that night when you hand them a gas card and a voucher to buy dinner in the cafeteria.
If you can dig into your pockets to sponsor or join us on November 14, please email me here: jennifer(at) jharrisonpr.com (no link to protect myself from web-crawlers) or make a donation and ticket purchase at the website. God Bless!
a few thank you's:
Thank you Bob Bretz (www.paintallnightstudios.com) for designing the logo, providing help with graphics and for donating proceeds of your calendar sale.
Thank you Gold Country Media and our ad person, Nina for such enthusisam and generous sponsorship!
Thank you ECO:LOGIC and Dave and all the other folks for helping with this event and all that happened in that terrible winter.
Thank you Elanie and Tim for starting this foundation so that people like me could give back.
