The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

As some of you may already be aware, my son Aiden was born at 25 6/7 weeks gestation. For those of you who aren't, please read this article about the babies that March of Dimes helps. Every year, around this time, I try to raise money to help support the March of Dimes, March for Babies by writing a series of articles, of which this will be the first. This annual fundraising event is a 3.2 mile walk through the Midlothian Meadows woods. If you would like to give a gift to help those who cannot yet help themselves, please donate whatever you can spare by visiting this link March of Dimes, March for Babies . You may want to have a box of Kleenex within reach while reading this article.

My fiancee is studying to be a nurse, meanwhile she is employed by a large hospital near Chicago that some of you may be familiar with, Christ Advocate Medical Center. Elaine works in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and yes, as the name implies it is an intensive care unit for babies. To be quite honest, I don't know how she can handle it. I mean babies dying is a very common occurrence there. Sure, she does her share of crying, I get phone calls from her while she is at work, once in a while she'll be crying, but this is when a baby that has been there for a while passes and she gets attached. However, one of the saddest parts of her job, to me is when she gets junkie parents who will abandon their baby in the NICU. That's right, there are sh!thead people out there who give birth to a sick baby and leave the hospital, never to return. How could this possibly happen you may ask, well I haven't got a clue. After watching the birth of my son, it's hard to imagine how some parents could just forsake this innocent little miracle, knowing full well that the majority of the time, when a baby is in the NICU, they are quite ill and usually in pain. Being a parent myself, there is no way possible that I could turn my back on my son when he is lying there in a hospital bed crying out for my help.

The funds raised by March of Dimes is helping to fund research, as well as many other useful programs that help babies get off to a good start. Please check out some of my upcoming articles pertaining to this year's March of Dimes, March for Babies. The first of which, will explain all that my son Aiden had to endure after being born nearly four months premature. Just click on this link to be taken to this article.

Today Aiden is 8 years old and doing great! For the last two years he has been getting occupational therapy. His teacher suggested therapy at school for what he is referring to as Attention Deficit Disorder. He has a very short attention span and can not multitask to save his life. If this is the only issue we face after his premature birth of almost 4 months, we are truely blessed