Can you help?

Okay - I know I'm probably acting a lot like the cousin or relative who never calls or writes or visits and who always forgets your kid's birthday and I'm really sorry if that's how it seems because those people are definitely annoying. But I wouldn't be giving 100% toward my cause if I left this stone unturned so here goes.

I'm raising money for the March of Dimes March for Babies this year and I need your help. As you probably already know, the March of Dimes' mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Every year in the United States, a staggering 525,000 babies are born to soon - some of them are no bigger than a deck of cards. No one knows the causes of nearly half of all premature births and no one is working harder than the March of Dimes to find the answer.

I gave birth to two healthy, full term babies and for that blessing I am eternally grateful. But I have friends who lost their babies. Some gave birth to medically fragile babies and could only stand by and watch helplessly as their baby fought for its' life. I can only imagine the heartache and suffering they endured.

I support the March of Dimes because I want to support my friends. I support the March of Dimes because I believe ALL babies deserve a healthy start in life. I support the March of Dimes because I don't want my sons to experience the loss of a child. I support the March of Dimes because no mother should ever have to go home without her baby.

For more information on the March of Dimes, visit www.marchofdimes.com. You can make a donation on their homepage or by clicking the widget on my page. Thank you in advance!

UPDATE ON 4/21/09

I've been away from blogging for a while. Keeping up with work, the kids and all the extras just left little time for me to write on my own blog, let along catch up on reading some of my favorites. So it was a complete and utter shock to discover that one of my favorite blogging couples recently lost their beautiful baby girl, Maddie. I still can't wrap my mind around the whole thing and I still can't stop crying. My husband doesn't blog and so consequently, he just doesn't "get it". He keeps asking how I can be so upset about the passing of a little girl that I never even knew. But I did "know" her and I did "know" her parents, Heather and Mike. When you read someones blog for almost a year and they share their life's ups and downs with you and you SEE into their world.....well, it is like you "know" them. You realize that they are cool as hell and you start to care about them, start to root for them. And when something like this happens, your heart breaks into a million pieces.

Maddie was born a little over 11 weeks early and spent 68 days in the NICU. To say she had a rough start to me is an understatement. But she pulled through it all and was the absolute light of her parents' lives. Little angels like Maddie are why I support the March of Dimes. If she had been born healthy and full-term she would still be here -she wouldn't have had the struggles she did. So please click on The Spohrs are Multiplying in my blogroll section, or visit remembermaddie.com and make a donation to the March of Dimes in her memory.