Amanda Otis

My story, like so many of the lesser told stories, does not have a happy ending. My son, Tyler, was my first. Being healthy and in my mid-twenties, I was experiencing the hope, joy, and anticipation of a very normal pregnancy. The night before Tyler came so unexpectedly, I was working on the guest list for our baby shower with family. Later that evening as I tried to sleep, something didn't feel right. It got to the point at which I called the nurse, who suggested I try a few things and call back if I was still concerned. After following her instructions, I was still concerned, and I did call back, and within minutes we were on our way to the hospital. Upon arrival, I was fully dilated and Tyler was born within about an hour, at 24 weeks gestation. Tyler spent 11 days in the NICU before losing his difficult battle with this big, wide world. It's difficult to describe how much we treasure the time we had with him and we know that without the work done to this point by the March of Dimes, hospitals likely wouldn't even attempt to treat babies born as early as Tyler, but thanks to the research done up to this point, there is a chance for these tiny babies. However, there is much more to be done. I pray that no other family has to go through this unimaginable loss and I support the March of Dimes to honor my son's life and work toward prevention and life saving cures. Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. We, unfortunately, learned this firsthand. We're walking in March for Babies because we want to do something about this. And we need your help. Please support our walk. Making a secure donation is easy: just click the 'donate now' button on this page. Thank you for helping us to give all babies a healthy start!