Monday, July 23, 2012

Walk for Preemie Peas

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Project Sweet Peas' 2nd Annual
Walk for Preemie Peas

A Walk for Preemie Peas is a walk-a-thon in which participants collect pledges to walk as little or as much as they would like for a great cause! Each participant (12 years of age or older) must raise a minimum of $25 in pledges to participate. All Walk-a-thon Participants will receive 5 free raffle tickets, food, water, and those who pre-register will receive a free event T-Shirt!

Registration opens at 1:00 at the Visitor Center
Walk-a-thon to begin at 2:00
Bring a new or used Children’s DVD and receive a FREE Project Sweet Peas Water bottle!
The top three participants to raise the most money will receive a cash prize!

Pre-Register to walk at on our website.
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Friday, July 20, 2012

Now accepting writing volunteer applications

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We are actively seeking 2 motivated Writing Volunteers to assist Project Sweet Peas! Volunteers will be actively involved in the creation and development of informational brochures, booklets, articles, and a monthly newsletter. If you are interested in becoming a writing volunteer, please submit an application through the link below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDVhSGYzTzlMd3IwcUVFalRhdnB4WlE6MQ#gid=0
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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Thank You Thursday: Molly Bears

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Today is Thank You Thursday! Every Thursday we take the opportunity to show our appreciation to organizations and individuals making a difference in the lives of ICU families.

This week we send our sincerest appreciation to Molly Bears. Molly Bears is a non-profit organization that creates weighted teddy bears for families coping with infant loss. MollyBears.com is also an online community of support for families that have suffered a death of an infant.

This amazing organization was created in memory of a sweet angel named Molly. After Molly's death, Molly's mother Bridget found great comfort in a bear she had tailored to be Molly's weight. She then started creating them for other bereaved families. Since then Molly Bears has created hundreds of bears for families experiencing the unimaginable loss of their baby.

Please take a moment to visit their website and their Facebook to show your appreciation for all that they do!
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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Dollar Days $5,000 Non-Profit Give-a-way

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Dollar Days $5,000 Non-Profit Give-a-way

This past month we asked our supporters to nominate Project Sweet Peas for the Dollar Days $5,000 Non-Profit Give-a-way. We wanted to take the opportunity to thank Dollar Days and everyone that nominated us for this give-a-away. Thanks to your nominations we came in 4th place and received a $100 gift card! With this money we will be able to purchase 1,000 items (500 shampoos and conditioners and 500 shower caps!

http://blog.dollardays.com/5000-non-profit-give-a-way-winners-june-2012/
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Thursday, July 12, 2012

Thank You Thursday: Papas of Preemies

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Today is Thank You Thursday! Every Thursday we would like to take the opportunity to show our appreciation to organizations and individuals making a difference in the lives of ICU families.


Today we send our sincerest thanks to Papas of Preemies! If you are a papa (or a mama) of a preemie be sure to check out this amazing group started by Joel (papa to Jayden born 7 weeks early.) Joel created this group as a forum for preemie parents to share insight, experiences and support. As a dad, he was eager to break the notion that fathers are not emotional beings.

Papas of Preemies offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration to the preemie parent. They are a forum for parents with a premature baby to share their stories and communicate with other parents. Their contributors provide insight to other parents based on their own experiences. They are all around a wonderful resource for parents, particularly for dads and we commend them for all that they do! Please take a moment to stop by their Facebook and website!
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Monday, July 9, 2012

July Sweet Pea Spotlight: Nadia

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July Sweet Pea Spotlight

Nadia

I looked at the 18 week old baby on the ultrasound in disbelief. After 4 years of studying ultrasounds, I knew what I was seeing. The tears came and would not stop. Her intestines were in her chest cavity; the heart, dislocated; the left lung obstructed; the stomach above her diaphragm: my baby had a congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

It was like getting struck with lightning, twice...my first baby had also had CDH. The condition has a 50% survival rate with no known cause, and he had survived and was now 3 1/2. My second child had been born healthy and was coming into his own at a year and a half. Now I looked at my little girl's image on the screen and thought....can I beat the odds twice?

My son had been out of the NICU in 3 weeks and only had a scar to show for his trials. What did fate have in store for my daughter?

Nadia Marilyn was born at 39 weeks by scheduled c-section in the NICU of Denver Children's Hospital--an exception they make only for the most dire patients. She was immediately intubated as she could not breathe. She would not be able to nurse at this time, nor could we hold her. Within 12 hours of her birth she was slipping away; her heart was struggling to work properly with the pressure of the outside world. We had her baptized in the middle of the night and she went on a heart-lung bypass machine called ECMO. It required surgery to place her on it and tubes from her neck carried her blood into the machine that cleaned and oxygenated her blood and put it back in. To see my tiny infant amid all that machinery that was keeping her alive was both frightening and surreal.


She made it through that night, and the next. One day at a time I watched her progress, and I prayed.

As the weeks went by, Nadia had surgery to remove her from the ECMO machine, a surgery to repair her hernia in her diaphragm and put her organs back to their proper locations, and one more surgery to repair an issue with the pyloric valve in her stomach. By four weeks of age, she had had four surgeries.

Finally she was starting to eat via a feeding tube--I had pumped gallons of milk for her and up until this point, she had been on a nutritional supplement that was broken down to the cellular level. Basically she had not eaten for weeks but her body got the nutrition it needed. She was off the oscillating vent and on a conventional vent. Then she was off the conventional vent and on oxygen and nitric oxide.

After 16 days of waiting, I got to hold her in my arms. And she smiled up at me. And my heart melted.

More days passed, and she still had her feeding tube and oxygen but no more nitric oxide. She was progressing very well.

As the seven week mark approached, I was told she could soon come home.

No more nights spent on a cot in her hospital room.

No more splitting my time between my boys and my daughter.

Soon, we would all be together, and my children would meet for the first time.

As this eve closes I am packing up my daughter's hospital room. I have learned how to operate her oxygen and feeding tube and change out her medical supplies and administer her medication. Her room at home is now finally clean and ready as I dared not set it up early only to have to take it all down should the worst have happened.

And tomorrow my daughter will be in my arms as I walk through my front door, and my sons will happily shout out "Mommy!!" as I bend down and introduce them to our latest living miracle.

(written on July 8, 2012. Nadia will be going home today! Please send thoughts and prayers to Nadia's family!)
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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Thank You Thursday: Global Hydranencephaly Foundation

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Today is Thank You Thursday! Every Thursday we would like to take the opportunity to show our appreciation to organizations and individuals making a difference in the lives of ICU families.


This week we send our sincerest thanks to the Global Hydranencephaly Foundation! The Global Hydranencephaly Foundation offers support, information, guidance, and resources to families with a child diagnosed with Hydranencephaly. Hydranencephaly is a rare neurological condition, knowingly occurring in fewer than 1 in 10,000 births across the globe, in which the brain's cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced with sacs of cerebrospinal fluid.

Their future efforts have the potential to change the lives of thousands of families across the globe; many already involved with the cause. Grants will be awarded for assistance with therapeutic services, equipment, medical costs, and other financial responsibilities of caring for these children. Information for adoption and designated care to insure families are not overwhelmed by the amount of involvement required in caring for these children will also be shared. Awareness campaigns and merchandise to create recognition of the cause and what this condition is will be made available. The ultimate goal of this foundation is not to cure, but to simply insure these little lives are allowed to shine!

Please take a moment to thank this wonderful foundation for making a difference in the lives of families facing a Hydranencephaly diagnosis!

www.hydranencephalyfoundation.org
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