March for Babies

A few weeks ago someone asked me why we walked.  I always thought that the answer was obvious, but I guess I was mistaken.  Her theory was that the March for Babies was done primarily by those who were celebrating the successful growth and health of NICU babies...not by those whose babies never even made it to the NICU.  An interesting perspective, I suppose.  I told her that I walk primarily to honor the memory of my daughter, and to raise money for the M.O.D. with the hope that it will spare other families from experiencing the pain of losing a child.  She seemed to understand a little better after that, but I'm not sure that she understood as much as I wanted her to.  So why do I walk...and why will I continue to walk?  I walk to celebrate the life of my healthy Bean, to honor the many NICU babies who beat the odds and have gone on to lead healthy lives, and to remember my Gracie and all of the other babies who could not stay.  I raise money with the hope that the dollars we donate each year might one day make a difference in the lives of other families...
I guess once you finish the 'year of firsts' you are no longer a rookie and it all just become part of life.  Today (4/30) was our local March for Babies.  It was second year walking, and this year we served as Ambassador Family for our area.  Ultimately, many things fell through this year, and many of the 'public' events that we were told would be arranged for us never came to fruition.  We had hoped to use the promised newspaper interview and radio interview to bring the spotlight over to the stillbirth side of things, at least for a moment, but I guess it was just not meant to be.  After it was all said and done today, we got suckered into being on the local committee for next year's walk, so perhaps we will be able to help with coordination of some of these things.

Initially, my husband wanted to set our team fundraising goal at $10,000.  I knew that there was no way we could raise that amount of money, and we agreed on $5000.  A week ago, it really looked like we wouldn't get much further than $3500 or $4000.  Last night, it looked like we would hang right around $4000.  By the time we started our walk this morning at 10:00, we were at $5015.  By the time we finished the walk about an hour later, more online donations had come in and we were at $5200.  The credit for about half of the last $1000 goes to my BIL, who really turned it up while he was working his midnight patrol shift last night.  I was impressed by his efforts for us.  I think that he sees things through much different eyes since his wife's death in September; suddenly he gets how important the support of family is.  One of our walkers was missing today, as her husband has been quite ill; aside from this, we had a great morning once the sun came out. 

I would like to thank the following fellow BLMs for their contributions to Team Graci.ebelle...  Debbie, Dawn, Maggie, Jess, Lareina, Lori, Marjorie, Holly, Tina, Malory, Andrea, Katy, Jen, Michelle, Mary, and Katie.

Here are some pics from today.

Our Ambassador Family poster

 The back of our shirts

Gracie.belle wings on the back of Jenna's onesie

The front of Jenna's onesie - it says "My big sister lives in Heaven.  Team Grac.iebelle 2011"