Day 10

45, 250 babies will be born this November alone.  13 babies will die today from complications of their early birth.

Day 9

In the United States, 1 in 8 babies is born prematurely, many with lifelong complications including cerebral palsy and mental retardation.

Day 8

For employers, the health care costs of a premature birth are nearly 12 times greater than the cost for full-term babies.

Prematurity Awareness Day

Today I'm wearing purple.

I've created this purple ribbon for my office door.

Today I'm supporting Prematurity Awareness Day.

I am supporting, thinking of, and praying for every single baby that has ever been born prematurely and their families.

I am also thinking of and praying for those that will be born in the future.

But I'm thinking of and praying for two special little boys in particular.

One is my son. As you all know, he was born soo premature. He was a micro-preemie. But he fought. And he fought valiantly. The odds were against him. That's why I support March of Dimes. Because there was a time in the past when a baby born at 32 weeks would have died in minutes. Now 32 weekers are considered survivors. And I hope that someday 24 weekers and even 23 weekers will be survivors. Not just some of the time, but most of the time.

The second little boy was born 3 days after my son. At exactly the same gestational age. At the same hospital. He laid in the bed beside my son for two weeks. And we prayed for him the whole time. And we commiserated with his parents and grandparents. I don't know where that little boy is right now, but I know he left the hospital in his parents' arms. And every time that I think of my son, I think of that little boy. And every time I think of him, I pray for him.

So that's what I'm doing today. Wearing purple. Thinking about preemies. Remembering my son. And praying for a survivor that touched my life.

The March of Dimes advocates for mothers and babies.  Today, on the seventh annual Prematurity Awareness Day, the March of Dimes is issuing its second annual Report Card on Premature Birth.  The nation and each state will receive a letter grade, reflecting its premature birth rate.  Visit marchofdimes.com/fightforpreemies to see your state's report card.

Day 6

While the rate of premature birth in the United States has been increasing, surveys show that most people have no idea how widespread or how serious the problem is. 

I was most definitely in this category before Logan was born.  Tell a friend what you have learned about premature birth.

Blue Jeans for Babies Day

March of Dimes NICU Family Support provides information and comfort to families of babies who spend time in newborn intensive care.

Today is Blue Jeans for Babies Day.  I'm wearing my shirt.  And at least 50 other people in Troy should be wearing theirs too!

Day 4

Twins, triplets and other multiples are at higher risk of being born prematurely than single babies.

Christmas Card Request

UPDATE:
Noah's mother just updated Noah's Care Pages site.  She is asking that we send the cards to this new address:

Scott Biorkman
3480 Petoskey Way
Milford, MI 48380

ORIGINAL POST:

Hey everyone, you may have already heard this story, but I want to pass it along.

Noah Biorkman was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in February 2007. He went into remission in August 2007. In September 2008, Noah relapsed with lesions in his right arm and right leg. After going through six different trials, the cancer continues to spread.  The doctor's do not expect him to make it to Christmas so his family is having Christmas for him now.  And because Noah loves getting mail, they are asking people to send Christmas cards to him.  So if you get a chance, please send this little boy a Christmas card as soon as possible.  And pray for him and his family as they have a hard journey ahead of them.  The address is:

Noah Biorkman 
1141 Fountain View Circle
South Lyon, MI 48178

And if you'd like to know more about Noah, check out his Care Page.

Day 3

The rate of premature birth in the U.S. has increased 36% in the past 25 years.

Day 2

Premature birth is when a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy; a typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.

Day 1

Today, more than 1,400 babies in the United States will be born prematurely. More newborns die from premature birth than any other cause.

Prematurity Awareness Month

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. And for the next two weeks the March of Dimes is pulling out all the stops.

So I'm going to post each and every day. They're going to be short. Basically just facts about prematurity. But I hope that it will remind each of us, at least for the next two weeks, about the fight so many babies fight every day.

If you want to see/take part in the activities March of Dimes has planned for the next two weeks, go to marchofdimes.com/fightforpreemies.

And November 17 is Prematurity Awareness Day and purple is the color of March of Dimes. So if you feel called, wear purple that day and let everyone see that you're thinking of preemies.

NASCAR & A Deep Thought

This past weekend Doug got free tickets to the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. He's been trying to convince me to go to a race for quite some time but being out in all that heat just didn't appeal to me. Well, with free tickets and the cool weather of November, how could I say no?

We did have a lot of fun so maybe I'll let Doug take me back someday.

Now on to another subject. Doug and I are reading Crazy Love with Bloom. Every week they do chapter review videos. And this week they mentioned something that blew me away. Their pastor said a couple of weeks ago that the phrase "God never gives you more than you can handle" is NOT in the Bible. The pastor said that God does put us in situations over and over again that we can't handle without Him. But each and every one of those situations forces us to turn to Him and have faith in Him. WOW... I'm just going to keep thinking about that for a little while longer.

And while I'm thinking about having faith, I'm also thinking about the faith that Stellan and his family are being forced to have right now. Stellan and his mother are going to Boston today and most likely Stellan will be having surgery on Tuesday. Please keep them in your prayers.