Marching for Babies

When I had Aiden I was pretty oblivious to anything pregnancy related. I didn't know a damn thing about infertility, I didn't know anything about pre-mature births, NICU or really...anything. I mean I figured out how to deal with MY baby...but babies in general? I was clueless. It's not true what they say, just because you spend your tween & teenage years babysitting does not mean you'll just know how to be a mom. Babysitting of any kind does NOT make you a mother...or give you any kind of clue as to what it's like to have and raise a child of your own. The people that say that...they're full of crap.

As Aiden got older I figured stuff out, he's an 8 year old who is pretty well mannered and generally well behaved. We haven't totally screwed him up, which is good. It wasn't until I was trying to get pregnant with Ian that I really had any idea of what people go through to have a baby. Or what parents go through when they lose a baby. Losing a baby is what prompted me to start this blog, but even then I don't think I totally "got it".

As I was planning my wedding and walking down the aisle my cousin was suffering through the loss of her son. At the time I was in my own little bubble and I only heard bits and pieces of what happened through the family grape vine. I wish I could go back and change that, to be there for her, but I can't. She went on to have my little cousin, and then after that went on to lose triplets...and then to have my other little cousin who actually made it PAST his due date.

This is the second year that we've marched in honor/celebration and memory of those babies. I look at her, her husband and her boys and I'm in awe. I'm in awe of her strength and her courage and her love for her children.

I have a friend with a little girl fighting daily in the NICU, constantly fighting an uphill battle that most grown adults wouldn't be able to handle. She's amazing, as are her parents and her big sister. This and all of the other babies born too early that spend too long in the NICU or never get to go home with their parents are the reasons we march.

March for Babies 2011