Upon entering the elevator today my eyes went directly, like always, to the news/advertising screen on the wall. It read: Today in History: May 28, 1934 the Dionne Quintuplets were born in Ontario, Canada.
A parent to multiples or not, I think most people would find the story of the Dionne quintuplets interesting. My recommendation is a book my wife Sarah and I read: We Were Five: The Dionne Quintuplets' Story, from Birth Through Girlhood to Womanhood by James Brough.
Happy Birthday Dionne Quints!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Stillbirth Awareness.
Sarah and I tend to keep our feelings about the loss of our daughter Abigail close to our hearts. We are also not extremely vocal about the lack of attention stillbirth gets in this country. As we approach Abigail’s original due date however, feelings and opinions bubble uncontrollably inside of me. Some of the the questions which could remain unanswered include: Why did Abbey have to die? How? What if? Will the black hole in my heart ever be filled?
Stillbirth, and education on the prevention of stillbirth, is not talked about. PERIOD. For that reason, my heart does warm a little and my soul brightens just a bit when I read about action being taken toward preventing stillbirth. The article below, which was forwared to us by an organization called Firstcandle, provides some hope that the subject of stillbirth will someday get the attention it needs.
HOUSE PANEL APPROVES GREEN LEGISLATION TO HELP PREVENT STILLBIRTHS
May 13, 2010
State Rep. Kevin Green announced that his legislation to help expectant mothers become better educated about the dangers of stillbirth and about how they may prevent it has passed a key House panel on its way to becoming state law. The Michigan House Health Policy Committee approved legislation requiring doctors to distribute information to their pregnant patients about the risk of stillbirth. The legislation's sponsor, state Rep. Kevin Green, has personal experience with the issue after losing his daughter Skylar Anne to stillbirth in 2007.
"Stillbirth is an equal opportunity destroyer," Green, R-Wyoming, told the House Health Policy Committee during emotional testimony Wednesday. "Getting this information to expectant mothers early on in their pregnancy could help them prevent stillbirth. Counting kicks is such a simple thing to do that could save your child's life."
The cause of Skylar's death is still unknown, as is the same for nearly half of stillbirth cases each year. Despite the relatively high incidence of stillbirths in the U.S. (nearly one in 100), there is little research into the causes of this heartbreaking loss of pregnancy.
House Bill 6091 would amend the Public Health Code to require a health care professional to inform a woman during her pregnancy of the potential risk of stillbirth and the importance of monitoring a child's movements in the last trimester.
"It allows women to have ownership in their own healthcare by being informed about this potential risk," Green said.
"We lost a big part of our future when Skylar passed away," Green said. "By passing this legislation, we acknowledge parents who have lost a child due to stillbirth and hope to find ways of preventing this from happening to other families in the future."
Stillbirth, and education on the prevention of stillbirth, is not talked about. PERIOD. For that reason, my heart does warm a little and my soul brightens just a bit when I read about action being taken toward preventing stillbirth. The article below, which was forwared to us by an organization called Firstcandle, provides some hope that the subject of stillbirth will someday get the attention it needs.
HOUSE PANEL APPROVES GREEN LEGISLATION TO HELP PREVENT STILLBIRTHS
May 13, 2010
State Rep. Kevin Green announced that his legislation to help expectant mothers become better educated about the dangers of stillbirth and about how they may prevent it has passed a key House panel on its way to becoming state law. The Michigan House Health Policy Committee approved legislation requiring doctors to distribute information to their pregnant patients about the risk of stillbirth. The legislation's sponsor, state Rep. Kevin Green, has personal experience with the issue after losing his daughter Skylar Anne to stillbirth in 2007.
"Stillbirth is an equal opportunity destroyer," Green, R-Wyoming, told the House Health Policy Committee during emotional testimony Wednesday. "Getting this information to expectant mothers early on in their pregnancy could help them prevent stillbirth. Counting kicks is such a simple thing to do that could save your child's life."
The cause of Skylar's death is still unknown, as is the same for nearly half of stillbirth cases each year. Despite the relatively high incidence of stillbirths in the U.S. (nearly one in 100), there is little research into the causes of this heartbreaking loss of pregnancy.
House Bill 6091 would amend the Public Health Code to require a health care professional to inform a woman during her pregnancy of the potential risk of stillbirth and the importance of monitoring a child's movements in the last trimester.
"It allows women to have ownership in their own healthcare by being informed about this potential risk," Green said.
"We lost a big part of our future when Skylar passed away," Green said. "By passing this legislation, we acknowledge parents who have lost a child due to stillbirth and hope to find ways of preventing this from happening to other families in the future."
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Independence as a runner.
For years I have read countless quotes about the life lessons learned from running, many of which I can relate to. Yesterday however, I read a quote which truly struck a chord with me - I thought to myself "this is why I love running so much". INDEPENDENCE = FREEDOM. The following quote is from the May 2010 page of the Runner’s World calendar:
"Running is the classical road to self-consciousness, self-awareness and self-reliance. Independence is the outstanding characteristic of the runner."
– Noel Carroll
"Running is the classical road to self-consciousness, self-awareness and self-reliance. Independence is the outstanding characteristic of the runner."
– Noel Carroll
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The anti-Mother's Day.
Happy Mother's Day to my wife Sarah - mother of identical triplet girls and an angel we named Abigail.
Unfortunately, this mother's day wasn't so perfect. The girls got the best of both Sarah and I most of the weekend, and it showed. It wasn't a total bad day - Allie, Anna and I had a nice visit to my mother's house which included some bubble blowing and cupcakes. And Emily was able to have some quality one-on-one time with her mommy. Despite the fun, however, it was definitely a tough day for us.
I am down on myself for being so short my my girls today, especially Allie. I am also down on myself for not being able to give Sarah the type of Mother's Day she deserves. Not that its an excuse, but I think I am a decent husband (and dad)most of the time so hopefully today's "set back" is just temporary.
I am a man blessed in many ways and I cannot forget that. I love you Allie. I love you Anna. I love you, Emily. I love you Sarah.
Happy Mother's Day.
Unfortunately, this mother's day wasn't so perfect. The girls got the best of both Sarah and I most of the weekend, and it showed. It wasn't a total bad day - Allie, Anna and I had a nice visit to my mother's house which included some bubble blowing and cupcakes. And Emily was able to have some quality one-on-one time with her mommy. Despite the fun, however, it was definitely a tough day for us.
I am down on myself for being so short my my girls today, especially Allie. I am also down on myself for not being able to give Sarah the type of Mother's Day she deserves. Not that its an excuse, but I think I am a decent husband (and dad)most of the time so hopefully today's "set back" is just temporary.
I am a man blessed in many ways and I cannot forget that. I love you Allie. I love you Anna. I love you, Emily. I love you Sarah.
Happy Mother's Day.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
FLIP'in Video.
In addition to a couple of great books, Sarah got me a FLIP video camera for Christmas. The FLIP has been awesome for a ton of reasons - ease of use and size of the camera are probably the two biggest reasons I love my FLIP. I've been able to capture some great video of the girls the last few months. Except when the camera freezes. It's happened a few times and since it happened the the last time (the day of the girls' birthday party), I haven't been able to get it to power back on. Fortunately Sarah purchased an extended warranty for the FLIP through Target so it will get repaired for free. In the meantime, I don't have new video clips to share of the girls. I'll have to pull from the archives.
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