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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2010
March of Dimes gears up for annual fundraising walk
Jackson, Barrow ambassador families share stories about premature birth, defects
March for Babies coming up April 16
The March for Babies (formerly walked
WalkAmerica) — which benefits the March
of Dimes — will be held Friday, April 16, at
Russell Middle School, Winder. The walking
distance is 3.5 miles.
“You don’t have to walk,” said Wendy
Mingus, a co-chairperson for the Barrow-
Jackson March for Babies. “Just come and
have fun.”
The Barrow-Jackson event will be the third
year that both counties have been combined
for the March for Babies. Last year, the
event raised about $65,000 with 30 teams.
Nationally, $1.8 billion has been raised from
walking events since 1970.
The March of Dimes was established in
1938 as the National Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt to
battle polio.
Today, the charity helps fund research,
advocacy, community programs and educa
tional activities to prevent birth defects and
premature birth.
The local March for Babies is continuing to
accept new teams while planning additional
fundraisers until the march in April. For
more information, visit www.marchforba-
bies.org.
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
FOR ONE family, they
know the ups and downs of
caring for babies born too
early or with birth defects.
And for another local fam
ily, they also faced uncertain
times after their daughter’s
premature birth, too.
The Brown family and
the Williams family are the
ambassador families for
Barrow-Jackson March for
Babies, set Friday, April 16,
at Russell Middle School in
Winder.
The March for Babies held
its kickoff on Thursday at
the Braselton-Stover House,
where teams got inspired
hearing the ambassador fami
lies" stories.
The Barrow-Jackson March
for Babies will benefit the
March of Dimes, a national
organization that is dedicated
to preventing birth defects,
premature birth and infant
mortality.
JACKSON COUNTY
AMBASSADOR FAMILY
Courtney Brown was a
young mother-to-be expecting
her first child in 2001 when
she started having difficulties
16 weeks into the pregnancy.
Her initial medical appoint
ments had gone well. But the
problems led to her being eval
uated at Northeast Georgia
Medical Center, where she
was a diagnosed with a rare
form of an ectopic pregnan
cy — when a fertilized egg
attaches someplace other than
the uterus.
The baby in an ectopic preg
nancy can’t be saved and its
growth could become deadly
for the mother. Courtney was
rushed to Atlanta Medical
Center for additional treat
ment, where her baby — a
boy — was born.
“They said, if it had been a
few hours later, I would have
been dead,” she said.
The baby boy, named James
Russell Brown, died just min
utes after birth. Doctors told
Courtney that if she wanted
more children, they’d have to
be bom by Cesarean delivery
and she wouldn’t be allowed
to experience labor.
Courtney and her husband,
Brandon, weren't planning to
have more children, but they
learned they were expecting a
baby in 2005.
That pregnancy also
seemed to be going well, until
Courtney started experienc
ing a strange feeling while 33
weeks pregnant in December.
By the next morning, her
water had broken and labor
was quickly progressing.
A “small, but spunky” little
girl the family named Zoe
arrived seven weeks before
her due date, Courtney said.
But Zoe was born with a
small hole in her heart, called
an atrial septic defect (ASD).
All babies are born with the
opening in their hearts, but
when the hole doesn’t close
properly after birth, it can
lead to complications.
“It didn’t have time to close
up in the womb,” Courtney
said.
Zoe spent two weeks in
the hospital, before coming
home. The hole has closed on
its own and Zoe doesn’t need
surgery. She’s now a healthy
four-year-old.
In 2006, Courtney and
Brandon learned again that
they’d be expecting another
child. Courtney was referred
to a specialist who monitors
women during high-risk preg
nancies.
During that initial visit, the
doctor used an echocardio
gram and found that the baby
had several heart defects.
“He had the heart defects,
but we didn't know how
severe,” Courtney said.
Just minutes after his birth
in July 2007, baby Clay
was rushed to Children’s
Healthcare of Atlanta at
Egleston. At three days old,
he underwent his first heart
surgery.
Doctors learned during
the surgery that Clay’s heart
defects were more severe
than initially anticipated.
He came home two weeks
after the surgery, but feeding
remained an issue. He used
a feeding tube to get nutri
tion and he required plenty
of medications. More heart
surgeries were planned for
the little boy.
Clay’s heart function didn’t
improve after the first sur
gery, or a second that fol
lowed in February. Doctors
told the family to expect
a heart transplant for Clay
before his second birthday.
On March 24, Clay started
running a fever and Courtney
was in contact with the boy’s
doctors, who told her to mon
itor his progress. Early the
next morning, Clay became
fussy and his eyes became
glassed over. Clay's heart
was quickly failing.
“My husband did CPR
until paramedics arrived,”
Courtney said.
Clay later passed away
while being taken to a hos
pital. He was eight months
old.
Courtney said their daugh
ter and the strong support
of family helped her and
Brandon deal with Clay's
passing.
They are now expect
ing another child, although
Courtney is on bed-rest in
hopes of remaining preg
nant for another 10 weeks
— which would improve the
chances of a healthier baby if
she can deliver at 36 weeks.
“The baby's heart is fine,
he’s healthy,” said Courtney,
who works at Hometown
Community Bank.
And for someone who has
watched what can happen
to young children, Courtney
wants to help others through
the March for Babies.
“It's close to my heart,” she
said. “I've seen so much, and
I've seen so many kids lose
their lives and I’ve seen so
many little babies struggling
for life — it’s very close to
me.”
BARROW COUNTY
AMBASSADOR FAMILY
Leanne Williams just
couldn’t believe that her new
born little girl was as tiny as
the doctor told her.
Already the mother of
another young girl who was
healthy, Leanne had been
admitted to Northeast Georgia
Medical Center on Memorial
Day weekend in 2008 for pre
eclampsia — a potentially
life-threatening condition in
which a pregnant mother’s
blood pressure rises too high.
The disorder requires care
ful monitoring of the mother
and baby. If a mother's blood
pressure rises dangerously
high, the only cure is to deliv
er the baby.
Leanne and her husband,
Heath, were prepared to stay
at the Gainesville hospital for
another two weeks — when
Leanne would reach 36 weeks
of pregnancy. But late one
evening, Leanne's doctor told
her that her blood pressure
was remaining too high and
they'd start to induce labor.
Alexis Williams was born at
3:44 a.m. on May 26.
“Right off the bat, we didn't
hear her cry and that scared
me for a minute,” Leanne
said.
Alexis started crying and
the new mother was allowed
to hold the newborn for a few
minutes and give her a kiss
before she was whisked off to
the Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit (NICU).
Later, a doctor told Leanne
that her daughter weighed
three pounds, 13 ounces and
was 17 inches long.
Leanne didn’t believe her
baby was that tiny and she
questioned if the doctor was
looking at the wrong baby. He
wasn’t. And Alexis was that
tiny three pound, 13 ounce
baby.
“To me, she didn't look that
small, when she was deliv
ered,” said Leanne, who is a
registered nurse in cardiology
at Northeast Georgia.
For Leanne, seeing her
daughter for the first time in
the NICU was surreal.
“It took me a minute, then
I realized, nope, this is her,”
she said. “She's got 10 tiny
fingers and 10 tiny toes, and
she’s just fine.”
Heath and Leann were just
thankful for every breath
Alexis took.
The infant spent 15 days
in the NICU at Northeast
Georgia, including about
10-12 days with a feeding
tube in her nose to provide
enough nutrition. Alexis had
grown to four pounds, three
ounces and had passed a car
seat test that is given to pre
mature and medically-fragile
babies as an early step in
going home. Her family also
prepared for her transition to
home with a “rooming in”
night at the hospital.
Alexis came home on June
10, with her only complica
tion being acid reflux, Leanne
said. Today, she is a happy
and healthy little girl with an
older sister, McKenzie, who is
five. Dad Heath is a firefighter
and paramedic with Barrow
County Fire and Emergency
Services.
The Winder family will be
the Barrow County ambassa
dor family for the March for
Babies, which benefits the
March of Dimes.
“We were fortunate enough
that we had a good outcome
with her,” Leanne said. “(We’d
like to help) raise money so that
every other baby, hopefully,
we'll reach a point where we
won't have premature births.
But if we do have them, that we
have good outcomes for them
to survive, like Alexis had.”
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