First of all I want to say thanks to my good friend Lori for giving up some of her blog space for this post. I know all of you come here to see her beautiful photos, but she asked me to share my story here so that we can help raise funds for a great organization – The March of Dimes.
My name is Erica Zambanini, and I am the mother of a stillborn baby. I’m not sharing my story to scare you, but to make you aware of how important the March of Dimes is to so many tiny babies and their families. My first son, Logan, was stillborn at 28 weeks on this past Thanksgiving day. I can say that the days leading up to Thanksgiving were the worst few days of my life, and I know that my husband would agree. But at the same time, I would never go back and erase those days of being pregnant with Logan, and holding him in my arms for the short time that we had with him. I never had the chance to look Logan in the eyes and tell him how much I love him, I never got to hear him cry and try to figure out how to make him smile, but I am a mom and for the first time I truly understand that statement, “You don’t know what love is until you hold your baby in your arms”.
Since losing Logan I have learned that 1 in 115 babies is stillborn in the United States. And in many cases, like ours, there is no medical reason that can explain it. I wasn’t high risk, Logan had no developmental problems, and I had a perfectly normal pregnancy up until the day that his heart stopped beating. Although the March of Dimes doesn’t focus specifically on stillbirth, any research that leads to healthier pregnancies and a decrease in prematurity and infant mortality can only help get us closer to preventing this type of tragedy. Prematurity is even more common than stillbirth, and thanks to the efforts of the March of Dimes more and more babies are getting a shot at a healthy life every year.
On May 16th, 2009 I will be walking, along with my husband Adam and a team of our friends and family, at Winchester’s March for Babies. Last year at this time I knew that the March of Dimes was a great organization, but I didn’t realize what a miracle it truly is to bring a healthy baby into the world. If I had the power to prevent all parents from ever having to know the pain of losing a baby, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I don’t, so instead I am doing what I can to help support those who may one day make my dream a reality. “One day all babies will be born healthy”.
If you have been touched by the March of Dimes, or have been blessed with healthy babies and would like to make a donation to support my walk please visit www.marchforbabies.org/babyloganz.
Thanks for your support and for allowing me to share my story with you.
