Kenneth Catron

You may or may not know, but both of my daughters were preemies. The first one coming 8 weeks early, and the 2nd one coming 6 weeks early. Both of them spent several weeks in the NICU, during the two scariest parts of COVID none the less - March 2020, and December 2021.

The reason for "why" either of my daughters came early, is still unknown. With my second daughter, my wife was monitored very thoroughly. She got shots WEEKLY that were supposed to help prevent prematurity, and it still happened. 

We cannot explain how lucky we feel that both of our daughters were able to come home healthy and are both doing great. While we didn't feel very lucky during the time we spent in the NICU, we saw a lot of other babies and families that did not end up so fortunate. We saw plenty that had complications due to being early, ones so early that they wouldn't even be able to be held by their parents for weeks, and many that had much longer roads to recovery than ours. Our oldest, Cece, had months of physical, speech, and occupational therapy once she came home, but that is nothing compared to what others have had to endure.

The March Of Dimes helps families that didn't get as lucky as us, and they help further research to prevent premature births. If you can, please donate to this charity. They are one of the best that focus on premature babies, which is obviously an issue near and dear to my heart. My family will be showing our support at the March For Babies at Whitnall Park on Saturday, May 17th. Thank you.