12 Days of Christmas - Day Twelve Donation/Volunteer Ideas

I have more and more suggestions for you. I remember being asked to raise money for the March of Dimes in elementary school, but I didn't give them a thought until Ty was born. Ty was the only baby that wasn't a preemie in the NICU when we was born. One of my fellow NICU moms who had her baby at 25 weeks then began raising awareness for the March of Dimes and the work they do for pregnant moms and babies. So, I hope you will remember them, too.

Finally, I want to let you know about the Pediatric Stroke Foundation. As many of you know, Ty had a stroke right before he was born. He began having seizures the day he was born and we quickly learned via MRI that he had a stroke and had brain damage. He was only in the hospital for 2 weeks, but we began the nervous WAIT for developmental delays. I've posted quite a bit about it on the blog last year. Fortunately, Ty seems to be doing fine, although I wait nervously for problems constantly...although, it is less than last year.

Most people do not know that babies can have strokes in utero, right after birth, anytime in childhood, as adolescents and even young adults. We know that Ty doesn't have an underlying genetic issue or underlying cardiac issue that may have caused the stroke...And, very little is actually known about the causes of infant and childhood stroke. But, it's surprisingly common (maybe 1 in 3000 or 4000 children) and part of me feels obligated to at least make people aware of childhood stroke.