But today I had the honor of going to the March of Dimes Broward Division Business Executive breakfast. The following is what I read... I hope that it influinced some of them to join up with the March of Dimes to raise money and awareness!
Hello! My name is Mary Kate Corbyons and this is Eli my son.
When you are pregnant you never imagine anything other than a perfect birth. You plan and plan for that due date and never expect complications… Till they happen. Our lives changed forever on November 23, 2009 when Eli was born prematurely at 29 weeks weighing only 2 lbs 11 oz. He spent over 7 weeks in the NICU at Memorial West Hospital and we are so BLESSED to have him here with us today. Before Eli was born we were not fully aware of what the March of Dimes did or why they did it. But we soon became aware. During his stay in the NICU, Eli had many breathing problems. On day 3 he actually developed a hemothorax (an air bubble outside his lungs in the chest cavity) and had an emergency chest tube put in and was placed on a ventilator. During this time, Eli was given a drug called Sutfactin. Surfactin helps babies lungs expand so that they can breathe more easily. Later we found out that Surfactin was researched and developed through funding from the March of Dimes. We will be forever grateful to the people who truly care about what happens to the littlest of babies born to soon.
Since Eli’s birth we have had the opportunity to learn more about the March of Dimes. We had the chance to join the March of Dimes in the annual March for Babies the past two years. It was amazing to see all the parents, family members and friends who have been touched by premature birth coming together to change the lives of babies. And I, personally, was touched that so many people from organizations like yours were willing to come out and spend time changing lives of people they may not know or ever have the occasion to meet. I truly believe that with the support of people like you all, we will one day read about prematurity only in history books.
We are blessed that in just one week, we will be celebrating Eli’s second birthday! It is in no small part that we thank the March of Dimes for helping us celebrate this milestone with a happy and healthy toddler.
So I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for caring about the littlest of babies. Thank you for choosing to stand up for the littlest humans. With your help we have seen dramatic changes! Thank you for helping all babies be born healthy!
On another note... 2 years ago today I was admitted to the hospital again.... It is hard to think about because at that point I still didn't feel bad. I am really blessed that God put people in the way so that I would end up