It is with great pride and pleasure that our family was selected to serve as the March of Dimes 2017 Tuscaloosa Area March for Babies Ambassador Family. March for Babies is the March of Dimes’ largest signature annual fundraising event and an unforgettable way to support the March of Dimes. We raise funds and walk to recognize our prematurely-born daughter, Madelyn, and below is our story. In the summer of 2015 we decided that we were ready to expand our family. We were pleasantly surprised to find out in September that we were pregnant. We found out very early in the pregnancy and anxiously awaited our first appointment to hear our baby’s heartbeat. Our lives went along as usual. I went to work teaching and worked on my master’s degree while Jerad worked as a geologist in and out of town. We were so excited to tell our families and friends. After our first ultrasound at 8 weeks, we told our families and friends the good news. Everything was looking great with the baby’s heartrate in the 140s. After the 12-week ultrasound we announced we were expecting to the world. 'Baby Tate' was growing, had a healthy heartbeat, and was right on track. We were ecstatic and couldn’t wait to welcome him or her into our family at the beginning of June 2016. As the weeks passed, my baby bump became more and more pronounced. We found out we were expecting a little girl in December and the nursery decorating kicked off. Life was moving along, and so was the pregnancy. Every checkup we had we heard that Madelyn was measuring right on track, her heartrate was excellent, and her anatomy looked fabulous. Up until I was hospitalized I was having a great pregnancy and could not complain one bit. On Valentine’s Day I noticed that something was off. I figured I was just being a worry wart but thought I should call the on-call doctor just to be sure. After all, at my appointment on February 11, everything seemed fine. The on-call doctor told me to take it easy and rest but that if I still felt something was wrong to come in. After about an hour I decided we needed to go in and have everything checked. I was scared that I was either being silly or something was wrong. My worst fears were confirmed when the doctor told me that I was in labor. I was only 24 weeks and 3 days. How could this be happening? I was given two steroid shots to help Madelyn’s lungs develop, magnesium and Indocin to help stop the contractions, and hooked up to the fetal monitor to monitor Madelyn’s heart rate. It seemed like it was working! I was sent out to a postpartum room after 2 days only to return to labor and deliver that night. I stayed on bedrest for a total of 4 days. Finally, on February 18, 2016 my water broke. I was just 25 weeks pregnant. Madelyn was born less than an hour later weighing just 1 lb. 9 oz. She was only 14 ½ inches long. Once Madelyn arrived, she was given life-saving surfactant (developed by funding from the March of Dimes) to help her tiny lungs breathe. Madelyn was intubated for a month and she required regular ventilation until the end of March. On May 2, she was taken off oxygen completely. During her time in the NICU, Madelyn experienced brain bleeds, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), multiple blood transfusions, and various other medical conditions. She (and we) spent a total of 114 days in neonatal intensive care. Those days in the NICU seemed to fly by but also take so long to pass. We learned that our girl was a fighter through and through (no matter her size). We were finally able to take Madelyn home on June 11, 2016. Just a week and a few days after her due date. She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. Madelyn did not require oxygen when she came home and was only on a few medicines. She is now a happy and healthy baby that is developing nicely. We are so thankful for the care and treatment from the NICU staff and the March of Dimes for research that helped save our little girl. We are proud supporters of the March of Dimes and their efforts to give every baby a fighting chance at life. Sincerely, Kortney, Jerad and Madelyn