It's about the babies

If you've been reading here for a while, you know that when I had my twins, Palmer spent ten days in the NICU with transient tachypnia of the neonate (basically, fluid in his lungs). I don't talk about it much, and I don't write about it often, but as I'm sure any mom who had a baby in the NICU, whether for ten days or ten weeks, would tell you it's impossible not to be changed by the experience.

Yesterday, one of my dearest friends texted me a picture of her seven-week-old son in the hospital with an oxygen canula on.

I was expecting him to be hospitalized for tests this week. I was not expecting what he's actually there for.

My friend's pregnancy started as a twin pregnancy. Sadly, she lost one of the babies early on. But as a result of that loss, the remainder of the pregnancy was anxiety-ridden and complicated. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that more than once I put out pleas for positive thoughts to be sent her way.

When he was born, everything appeared to be fine. Until a few weeks ago when he choked on some fluid and stopped breathing for three minutes.

After testing and exams and a few more episodes of not breathing, he was diagnosed with tracheal myalgia--basically, his trachea didn't fully develop--and sent home with an apnea machine and the assurance that he should outgrow the condition by the time he's two...if they can keep him breathing that long.

This week he was supposed to go in for tests to see if he would need surgery to repair his trachea. Instead, he is there with severe RSV and double ear infections. He's is struggling to breathe, and although he's a little fighter, my heart is breaking for him and his parents. I know what it feels like to watch your child gasp for every breath. I know the fear that comes with wondering if, at any moment, they'll just decide they aren't strong enough anymore.

No baby should ever have to fight for life. And so I'm asking for your support for Heather and Maddie of The Spohrs Are Multiplying. Although I only know them through Heather's blog, the story of Maddie's struggles in her first weeks and months of life have brought me to tears, because I know Heather felt that fear even more acutely than I did.

Heather is participating in the March of Dimes March for Babies. The sponsorship link is below and in my sidebar. I know times are hard. But I also know that nothing is harder than watching a baby struggle to survive.