There are special times in life when the opportunity to witness the journey of another forever influences your own story. For me, this privilege came through my sweet neighbor and Healthy Birth Day, Inc. co-founder, Kerry Morlan and her husband, Luke. On May 19th, 2003, Luke and Kerry’s baby girl, Grace Biondi-Morlan, was born still. The heartache of true loss was difficult to observe and words of condolences seemed too little. Amazingly, the path from an unimaginable loss led to the birth of new friendships amongst 5 moms who shared not only their pain, but a real passion to save babies. Consequently, this passion led to the creation of Healthy Birth Day, Inc. and eventually the life-saving Count the Kicks campaign. As the years passed
Our advisory was invited again to volunteer at YMCA since we did such a successful and fun job last time for the Healthy Kids Day event in April. For this community service, we helped set up a talent show they were hosting. This show was where kids had been preparing for weeks to this day. The kids got to sing, dance, and just mess around. While the kids were partying, the volunteers were at stations where the kids could create things. One station was for crafting with pencils, one was for creating grape caterpillars, and the last one was for serving people popcorn and drinks which was the one I worked at. The kids were very hungry because four pounds of popcorn was all gone before the show started. Four pounds is a lot especially since popcorn
While reading michelle was very young, 3 year old with a hole in her heart, brought the idea of my childhood neighbor. She had her baby at the age of 17, the baby just turning 9 months touched my parents and my heart. My friend named amber would walk her daughter around the subdivision all summer of 2016, certainly stopping at our house on the way back home as we watched her grow
“Survivor”, 2005). This experience turned an otherwise lovely and caring mother into an individual that
“I’m going to have 11 more” was my grandmother’s response to the doctor, after she almost died giving birth to her first child. The doctor recommended that she have no more children, but she refused to abandon her original wedding promise of raising 12 children. When my dad was born, he and his mother, my grandmother, almost died. If my grandmother originally listened to the doctor after giving birth to her first child, if she died giving birth to any of her other children, or if my father died at birth, I would not be here writing this today. My grandmother lived a remarkable life. Not only did she successfully give birth to 12 children, but she also held daycares and welcomed more children into her home. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time with my grandmother when she came to live with us. She lived an extraordinary life and without her, I would not be alive today.
My birth was simple. My parents made preparations, had an easy drive to the hospital and there were few complications during my birth. The events of the day all went off without a hitch for the most part.
In a faded pink garage, we called our home, laid my thirty-year-old mother groaning in pain unable to stand up. While my father worked trying to keep up with the medical bills, at the age of six I became the only person my mother could rely on during the day for food, water, and comfort. At a young age, I found myself caring for my mother who was diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation. With time, medication, and therapy my mother regained her ability to walk. From there on, an innate desire grew inside of me to want to help those around me, not just my loved ones.
children and from the faulty mitochondria from being passed on through the maternal line. Women who carry the mutated mitochondria may lose many children through miscarriages or an early death because of improper workings of organs such as the brain, heart and muscles due to the genetic defect in mitochondria that should provide energy to the cells of the body, but does not (Sample, 2012). Some of the major supporters of this treatment come from the emotionally standpoint of couples who have struggled with giving birth to a healthy child. As noted in the article by Pritchard (2014), a mother who has lost seven children, whether through miscarriages or early deaths, claims that she would have received the mitochondria replacement had it been approved. In contrast, a mother who was able to receive this mitochondria replacement is beyond thankful for the treatment in giving her a healthy daughter who is similar to her cohorts. Another major reason why some people support this treatment is due to the fact that a child born through this procedure will only have a very small amount of the donor’s DNA in their body. There is a very tiny amount of the donor’s DNA because, unlike a cell’s nucleus that holds about 23,000 genes, a cell’s mitochondria only holds a tiny bit of DNA (Sample, 2012). Additionally, the donor’s DNA from their mitochondria has little to do the characteristics of a child born through this treatment since about 0.2% of the complete DNA that makes up the genetic
Alcohol, Cigarettes, and other illegal drugs are common to cause serious risks to a developing baby. Staying away from any narcotic is the key to having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. In addition, if women consider having a healthy baby, she should stop using these toxic substances ideally before the pregnancy, because the smallest portion of this substance could cause complications. If women do not know, she is pregnant while on alcohol or other narcotics it is important she stop immediately. Alcohol has many effects on a healthy pregnancy, and it is important women never use alcohol or other teratogens while pregnant.
The evening of November 5th, 2001, my life began. The events that took place throughout the day, both around my family and the world, occurred in a unique sequence and manner that will never duplicate over the course of time. My day of birth will be remembered and celebrated by myself and loved ones until the day I die. As the first milestone of the entity that is, my life, my day of birth exists as a special moment.
Adult day health care is a supervised daytime program providing skilled nursing and rehabilitative therapy services in addition to personal care services. Adult day health care services are appropriate for adults with medical or disabling conditions that require the intervention or services of a registered nurse (RN) or licensed rehabilitative therapist acting under the supervision of the client?s physician.
Imagine if you will, being 26 years old, 17 weeks pregnant, excited about your future, and having the doctor look you in the eyes and say "I am sorry, but you have colon cancer, you and your unborn child are both at risk.” This is the story of an amazing young woman, Lindsey Motley. Being diagnosed with colorectal cancer is rare in pregnant women. Lindsey's husband Jay, a physician, was standing tearfully by her bed as the doctor completed the colonoscopy. She knew by the look on Jay's face the prognosis was not good. Life moved very fast at this point. Less than a week after being diagnosed, Lindsey had surgery that was forever life changing. Lindsey said "With my tiny sweet potato-sized baby inside, my uterus was lifted up out of my body. The surgeons removed the tumor and put the baby back just where it should be and I was left with a temporary colostomy.” Days later, the pathologist confirmed it was stage III colon cancer. This was a defining moment in Motley’s life in which she decided to dedicate her life to raising awareness for colorectal cancer.
I’ll never forget the day Gabrielle was born. She was born prematurely over 2 months early, weighing in at just over 2 lbs. I was shocked, surprised and scared for both her and her mother. Her mom was in a coma for 3 days and Gabrielle was quickly whisked away to NICU in a different hospital. I visited her often, hoping for the best but thinking the worse may happen. So tiny and frail. The odds were against her. About a month later she was coming home earlier than expected. It was then that I realized what a fighter she was. She would overcome odds.
Pregnancy for the human female is a period of time that is celebrated in most cultures. However, reaching the point where a pregnancy successfully results in the birth of one or more healthy children can be quite difficult. Wilcox et al. (1988) provided the conservative estimate that thirty-one percent of all pregnancies were unintentionally lost, with twenty-two percent of pregnancies being lost before they were clinically detected using delicate detection of hCG hormone levels. Since the rate of spontaneous to be abortion this high when healthcare is arguably the best it has ever been in all human history, it is worth examining the possibility that spontaneous abortion might carry an evolutionary advantage for humans that doesn’t make sense in a simply modern context.
On July 1st, 1993, a couple took their chances of bringing their baby into this world. Doctors told my parent “Your baby has less than 50% chance of living, because she is two and a half months early.” My parent took the risk of having me and hoping for me to survive. As I was a premature child with very low birth weight, it was not a surprise to many doctors and my family that my immune system was not in my favor. Yet, I fought all the health complications and become one healthy person today. Thus, without those doctors and nurses I would not be here today or have the opportunity of possibly being a doctor one day and being able to help take care of another person’s health.
In early 1977, the world as I knew it was slowly dissolving. My beloved grandfather became gravely ill, and transgressed to the next realm in August of 1981. This was a very dark difficult period for my family. The happiest days of my life were spent with my grandparents. It became extremely difficult to concentrate and control my emotions during this period. On June 6, 1984, the joy of my life was birthed into this world, my son. His birth signaled a new journey for me, setting a solid foundation for the rest of my life. I was a newly minted wife and mother with different responsibilities for the care and lives of two other people. This foundation helped me to deal with the blow of my grandmother transgressing from brain cancer less than one month after the birth of my son. My