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Why March?

It is already March for Babies week! According to their website there will be over 7 million people participating or donating across the country. This Saturday we will be there with our matching t-shirts marching for Team Noah! Even my grandparents are going to come. How many kids can say their great-grandparents did that? They are pretty cool! :)
I already mentioned how March of Dimes research led to surfactant therapy, which Noah recieved multiple times.The other main result March of Dimes claims for their research is nitric oxide therapy. Nitric oxide is naturally produced by the body and it is sometimes given to help expand the blood vessels in a babies lungs and is thought to help prevent both lung and brain defects.
Thankfully this is something Noah did not have to experience. And if I am remembering right, it is a big and scary looking machine. There was a baby next to us that was on it for awhile. Of course we couldn't ask about that particular baby, but we did ask about the machine, because it was big and scary. (I thought I remember the answer being that it was nitric oxide, but after reading the descriptions on the March of Dimes site I admit I'm not 100% sure. Keep reading though; I have a point.)
I didn't really connect too many dots then, but one day the big machine and that baby weren't there anymore. It is possible that he got moved to a different pod. But it is also possible that a mother had to say goodbye to her baby there in that little NICU pod-- without ever being able to take him home, without ever being able to nurse him, without ever being able to rock him to sleep in his new nursery, without ever being able to show him to friends and family.
Not every baby gets to go home. Not every story ends with "you can't even tell he was ever in the NICU."
And that is why March.

10 things I learned on vacation

Last week we went on a mini-vacation to Duluth. Here are some things I learned: 1. March/April is a good time to go on vacation because you can get good deals on hotels. We got to stay in a very nice hotel for a nice price.

2. It is a good idea to get there right at check-in time. Our room wasn't ready yet so they put us in a lakeside suite. Score.

3. Noah likes to swim. This was his first time trying out a pool and he did great! He wasn't too sure at first, but then he decided it was lots of fun.

4. Noah likes the aquarium. We went to the Great Lakes Aquarium and had a great time. He liked looking at and pointing at all the fishies.

5. Sting rays are not slimy. They have a de-stinged sting ray that you can touch. Corey and I are both kind of freaked out by stingrays, but we did it. Go us.

6. Baked potato pizza sounds really weird but tastes really yummy. We had a pizza party in our hotel room and that is what we got. It had mashed potatoes instead of sauce with broccoli and tomatoes and cheese and bacon with sour cream to dip it in. All three of us approved.

7. You know those kleenex boxes that are mounted into the cabinets? Pretty much the coolest toy ever.

8. Vacations with toddlers should come with an extra vacation day for Mommy and Daddy. Noah was very kind and pointed out all the aspects of the hotel room that needed to be toddler-proofed. And he did NOT want to go to sleep. Um, Mom and Dad don't have to go to sleep, so why should I? Eventually we just all went to bed around 8:45. (His usual bedtime is 7:00.)

9. Noah doesn't do that great in really crowded places. We decided to go to a popular restaurant right at lunch time on a Friday. Bad idea. He didn't get fussy and cry, but he was too distracted to eat and decided he had to try and yell louder than all the noise...

10. Family vacations are very good for you. (I already knew that one but it was a good reminder.)