March for Babies 2009

March for Babies was another wonderful experience. So blessed we are.

Alex and I packed up the girls early and headed out ahead of the crowd for a 5 mile run. We managed to run 4.5 miles with a few stops here and there. The girls were extremely good in their strollers including Savannah who was happy to sit in her old jogger.

I was happy to bump into familiar faces such as Savannah's old preschool teacher who was sadly walking for her friend who lost both twins born at 25 weeks. We saw another friend of mine who has one year old twins, one of which spent a week or two in the NICU. Finally, we saw the girls' first Early Intervention therapist who left us a year ago to have a baby. She was surprised to see the girls so big and active. It was a full circle moment.

There were many unfamiliar faces as well. Groups of people with identical shirts that tell about their "angel." It is wonderful to see the parents uplifted in support but hard to imagine what our life would be like had it been us. One couple struck me as we ran. They headed out early as well. They were young and without a child. Every time I saw them they were holding hands and quiet. I have to imagine that they were walking in honor of their child who never made it home from the NICU.

How did we get so lucky? We have two healthy and vivacious preemies. We also have wonderful friends and family who supported us in donations for this year's walk. A heartfelt thank you goes out to all of you who participated with us in spirit!