$750,000

My boys weren't in the NICU all that long when compared to other preemies. Just a couple of weeks. They didn't need any expensive surgeries or medications. They didn't even need oxygen. They just lay in their little isolettes and gained weight. Those two weeks, for three little "feeders and growers", resulted in our insurance being billed nearly $750,000. Wow. Could you imagine the cost if even just one of the boys had needed a life saving surgery?

The boys' NICU stay really wasn't avoidable. After all, there were three little boys vying for the space only one baby should occupy. However, I did make it a tad bit longer than most moms carrying triplets do. Every precaution was taken to make sure those babies stayed inside just as long as possible in order to reduce their NICU time.

Could you imagine if every single pregnancy was watched closely for signs of pre-term labor or trouble? Imagine the reduction in NICU time for hundreds of thousands of babies! Sometimes a premature birth just happens; there's nothing the mom or doctors could have done to prevent it. But often times it could have been prevented with some research, knowledge, medicines and education on the mom's part.

The March For Babies helps fund such research and education that is so desperately needed to reduce the number of preemie births. We need to reduce the number of parents spending hours next to the crib of their tiny baby. We need to reduce the anxiety, fear and helplessness these parents feel when looking at their teeny tiny newborn. We need to reduce the number of times a parent has to bury a child they barely knew.

Yep, it's that time of year again. Time to see the purple banner on my blog (and thousands of other blogs!) asking for you to donate. Time for me to mention prematurity several times a month on my blog. Time for me to recruit locals to walk with my family. The Kansas City March For Babies is 3 months from today. How will you help?

Kansas City Residents: Will you consider joining Team Three Cuties this year? All we ask is that you raise (or donate yourself) a minimum of $25. I bet you could easily raise 10 times that though with a quick e-mail or a few Facebook status updates. The date for the Kansas City walk is Saturday, May 1st. What better way to spend my birthday than walking with Nick, me and the boys? (yep, the walk is on my birthday this year!) There's tons of stuff for the kids to do before and after the walk, so make it a family event! You can find more info about the walk and joining our team by clicking HERE. Last year our team had 3 members besides me. Can we double that this year?

Donations: If you don't live locally or you do but can't walk with us, please consider donating. I've set a high goal for myself ($1,000) and will need a lot of help to reach it! You can donate by clicking HERE or by clicking on the banner you see on the upper left-hand side of the blog.

Thank you for helping us give all babies the chance to be born healthy! One day we'll get there.

Today begins a new Cans For Comments week! Each comment left on my blog between now and Saturday at 10pm will result in one non-perishable item being donated to our church's Souper Bowl Food Drive. Comment away on old and new posts! If you have a blog, join us by clicking HERE!