March for Babies - Local Family Brings Compassion, Vision and Experience to Ambassador Role
2/28/2020
This article originally appeared in The Mooresville Tribune on Wednesday, February 19, on page 7A. It was written by Karen Kistler.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of March of Dimes’ March for Babies, and the kick-off for this fundraising campaign was held Feb. 13 during the morning at the Statesville Civic Center and again at noon at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville.
It was at this kick-off event that the Everett family, this year’s Ambassadors for March for Babies was introduced, along with this year’s 2020 March for Babies co-chairs, Julie Mauney with Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and Rebekah McCarthy with Piedmont Healthcare.
“This is an awesome year to be part of the March for Babies because we are celebrating the 50th year,” said Mauney. “In 1970, when we began WalkAmerica, an innovative form of community fundraising, we knew we were going to change the world.”
The kick-off also announced a new campaign entitled “It’s Fine. It’s Not Fine,” an advocacy and awareness campaign that brings attention to all those well-meaning ‘you’ll be fine’ moments experienced during pregnancy,” shared Mauney. “It is not always fine.”
Melissa Everett shared their family’s journey with the group telling how she and husband Brian and their family went through those moments when all was not fine, but with the help and support of the local hospital and March of Dimes, their two “little heroes” as she called Chase and Chandler, are healthy today.
In her story, she shared that their “journey wasn’t easy, but we are proud to be with you today to kick off the official March for Babies season. If you had asked me a few short years ago or told me that I would be here, I would have laughed.
Everett shared how she and her husband Brian welcome their firstborn, son Connor and three years later, daughter Leah. When these two were ages 10 and 7, she noted they didn’t anticipate have more children. “But God saw otherwise.”
“I discovered I was pregnant in early September of 2016 with what I believed at the time was our third child. A few weeks later, we found out I was pregnant with our third and fourth child. My doctors gave me a long list of potential complications to expect during my pregnancy from prolonged bedrest to preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and so on. But thankfully my pregnancy was nearly picture perfect until I went into premature labor at 34 weeks and two days.
Chase, she shared was breech and they knew they would have to do a C-section. It began as a routine procedure, she continued but it “turned into an emergency when his heart rate dropped into the 80s just prior to surgery. Amongst the controlled chaos, Chase and Chandler were born weighing 4 pounds, 13 ounces and 4 pounds, 11 ounces. Neither baby was born breathing and had to be resuscitated. They were tiny, but they were fighters. Both babies had quite a difficult start to their little lives and required a lot of support during their first week.”
With great emotion, Melissa continued by telling the group that after the babies spent 19 days in the special care nursery at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, they were discharged together by Dr. Reniker.
“I will never forget that phone call when she called and said, ‘you can come get your babies.’”
With a big smile, she shared that Chase and Chandler are now healthy, rambunctious almost three year olds.
“They brighten our lives each and every day. We are forever grateful for the care that they received from all the amazing nurses and doctors here, but even more grateful for the advances that medicine gave my little heroes for their fighting chance at life. Words cannot express how thankful we are to the March of Dimes for their support and their ongoing effort to give all babies the best possible start.”
Melissa concluded by saying, “it’s not fine that each year thousands of moms and babies deal with complications from pregnancy and premature birth, but together we can do something about it. We can be there for every family, those who have firsthand experiences, firsthand hardships, those celebrating their health and those just trying to start their families. I truly believe that with your commitment today, and throughout March for Babies season, we are getting closer to a world where no mom and dad will have to experience what we did.”
McCarthy noted that this “is a personal cause” for her.
Having been in the healthcare field for a longtime and just recently becoming a nurse practitioner, McCarthy said she has had “the honor and privilege to work at Piedmont Healthcare in the women’s center there. And so I get to take care of moms and babies every day. That is how it impacts me, how March of Dimes impacts me. When I care for pregnant women, I’m committed to their health and the health of the women and babies who are there.”
She continued by sharing a story of her youngest son who had to have some surgery at nine months of age and being very grateful that he and her other two children are healthy.
“Sometimes we take that for granted,” she said. We were so grateful that we had the healthy children that we have because there are a lot of children out there that are not that way.” She shared that she considers it an honor to work with this cause.
“March of Dimes helps us to educate medical professionals and the public about best practice support, lifesaving research, provide comfort, and support to families, especially if they are in the NICU and advocate for moms and babies,” McCarthy said.
Mauney noted that the mission of March of Dimes is clear.
“We believe that every mom and baby deserve the best possible start.”
She then shared some startling statistics of how this good start isn’t always the case for some babies and moms.
“That’s why the March for Babies community of individuals, teams and businesses come together to raise money to help all moms and families experience the joy of a healthy baby,” Mauney said.
Both she and McCarthy stressed the need for additional resources to help babies and their moms and to the need to recruit more people to participate in the walk and fundraise and reach and surpass their goal of $70,000 for this year’s event.
“By growing our March for Babies teams, we can make an even great impact in 2020,” said Mauney, “Today is about inspiring each other to launch this season of March for Babies – we’ll make this our best year yet.”
It’s not always fine, she noted, “but together we can do something about it.”
This year’s March for Babies is scheduled for April 4 at the Troutman ESC Park, 338 North Ave., Troutman. Registration starts at 9 a.m. with the 3.1 mile walk beginning at 10 a.m. For additional information, visit the March of Dimes website.
Melissa Everett (center) and sons Chase and Chandler, are pictured with March for Babies co-chairs, Julie Mauney (left) and Rebekah McCarthy.
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