Anothersunrise

Can you believe it?

Hopefully, they’ll have the March issue on the Growing Up Santa Cruz website soon.
Until then, here’s the text of my article. I think they did a very nice job on the layout. I’m just so proud I could bust.
(Please let me know if you would like a copy of the newspaper. I’ll mail them out.)
Born Too Soon by Dawn Syren Jenkins
The first few days of parenthood are the most exciting, exhausting and sometimes terrifying many parents will face. The challenges escalate exponentially when your newborn is one of nearly 500,000 born prematurely every year in the U.S. That is the same as the total number of babies born in California last year. Over the last 25 years, the rate of premature birth has increased almost 31%. Today, one in eight babies are born before 36 weeks gestational age.
Contrary to popular belief, premature birth is not the sole property of crack addicts and car accidents. The causes are varied, often poorly understood by the medical community and can affect almost anyone. Proper prenatal healthcare can help, but sometimes there is little or no warning.
What does it mean to be born so early? Premature birth is the leading cause of infant mortality. Of those that survive, 25% will face life long health issues, such as cerebral palsy, chronic lung disease, hearing and vision problems, mental retardation and learning disabilities.
I, like most women experiencing their first pregnancy, didn’t give prematurity a great deal of thought. I went to my prenatal appointments, which went well, ate as well as I could and tried to take care of myself.
Our family got a crash course in prematurity when at 26 weeks gestation; I became seriously ill with severe preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. We had just begun discussing our birthing options, looking for baby furniture and decorating a nursery. Suddenly, my life was in danger and so was our baby’s. My naïveté that I was somehow protected by my youth, my health, my education or my socioeconomic status, was immediately stripped away.
Our daughter weighed just 698 grams, about 1.5 lbs., at birth. Babies born at this weight have about 60% chance of survival and no guarantees regarding hearing, vision, brain function or lung function.
Within 24 hours she suffered a pulmonary hemmhorage and had to undergo surgery to close a duct between her heart and lungs. It would be 2 weeks before we were even allowed to help change her diaper and she’d need an extra shot of morphine, before we could begin, to help her cope. It was 4 weeks before we would be able to hold our little girl for the first time, and only then with the assistance of 2 nurses and a respiratory therapist.
Milestones are very different in premature birth. Instead of books filled with first smiles or first baths, parents have vivid memories of surgeries, blood transfusions and first unassisted breaths.
The earliest babies, those born before 34 weeks, are at great risk for Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) and bleeding in the brain. RDS can be minimized with age or can result in lifelong issues like asthma, greater susceptibility to illness and can lead to child care problems. Bleeding in the brain can resolve itself in time or can lead to the need for developmental, physical or occupational therapy and can mean lifelong challenges with learning disabilities.
In December of 2006 the Preemie Act was passed by the House and Congress and signed by George W. Bush. This bill authorizes the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand research into the causes and strategies to prevent premature birth and would also increase federal support for education and services related to prematurity.
California has been ahead of the national curve in this area. Already parents can receive benefits ranging from financial assistance with medical bills through Medi-Cal, to therapeutic assistance in the home through agencies such as the San Andreas Regional Center. Intervention of this kind means hospitalized infants will get the care they need and help minimize the drain on public health and education resources.
Although there have been great strides taken in the area of medical treatment for premature infants and in follow-up services available to them, the key to moving forward from reaction to prevention is in the hands of organizations like the March of Dimes. The mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. They carry out this mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies’ lives.
After 119 days in the hospital, our daughter came home and we began experiencing all the wonder and terror of being new parents. Once we had settled into our roles, we discovered a need within ourselves — we needed to take our experience and do something that would make a difference. With the help of the March of Dimes, we are now using our energy, passion and understanding to raise awareness and educate others about premature birth.
The spring after our daughter was born, we participated in our first Walk America event, at Vasona Park in Los Gatos. This year will be our fourth year walking, our third as Family Team Bellapalooza. We found that once we shared the opportunity to make a difference with our friends and family, they couldn’t wait to join us.
To find out more about how you can help prevent premature birth, please visit http://www.walkamerica.org. Sign up your own family team and make a difference.
To sponsor team Bellapalooza or read more about our daughter’s story, please visit walkamerica.org/anothersunrise .