2010 March for Babies

Eliza Grace Team, 2010 March for Babies



Eliza Grace was born at 26 weeks and 4 days. She weighed 1 pound 4 ounces and was 11.5 inches long. That's about the size of your average small bottle of water. Eliza Grace's early birth was brought on after I developed pre-eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome.

Eliza Grace was in the Lenox Hill Hospital NICU for 100 days. During that time she was diagnosed with and treated for RDS, BPD, ROP, AOP, PDA, NEC, multiple episodes of sepsis and an array of other issues. Eliza Grace was so fragile I could not hold her until she was 25 days old.

Thanks to the wonderful care she received at Lenox Hill Hospital, Eliza Grace is a happy and healthy preschooler today.

Eliza Grace has not however walked away from her extreme prematurity unscathed. She has had over 3,000 hours of various therapies, including speech, feeding, physical and occupational therapies. She now attends a special ed preschool and loves it. Eliza works very, very hard to achieve the typical childhood milestones, ones that most parents take for granted, like rolling over or eating a cracker.

Eliza's early birth has taught me to take nothing for granted in life. No child should miss an entire trimester in utero. No child should have to live in an isolette (or "the plastic box" as I call it). No parent should have to watch a machine breathe for their child and no parent should have to wonder day in and day out if their child will survive to the next day.

Every year, half a million babies in the U.S. are born prematurely. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death and many life long disabilities. The funds raised in the March for Babies support research to help save and improve babies' lives. The March of Dimes also supports programs to provide NICU families with the tools they need to cope while in the NICU.

Thanks to everyone's generosity over the past three years, the Eliza Grace Team has raised $10,000. This year we have set our team goal at $5,000, which would bring our 4 year total to $15,000.

Please support Eliza Grace in the March for Babies. Your donation would be greatly appreciated.

If you would like to become a team member you can email me at elizagracesmom@yahoo.com for information on how to join the team and how to raise funds for the March for Babies.

Thanks for your support,

Anne and Eliza Grace