11840 Nicholas Street. Omaha, NE . 68154 . (402) 496-7111

1. Mission Family News 11840 Nicholas Street. Omaha, NE . 68154 . (402) 496-7111 May 2009 March for Babies – Thank You Family Teams! There are different reasons why families walk: to honor premature babies, in memory of a child, in gratitude for a baby born healthy. We all have stories. We all are dedicated to giving every baby a healthy start.  March for Babies is about families and our Family Teams are the heart of the event.  This year’s March for Babies was held on April 26 at Mahoney State Park and Holmes Lake in Lincoln. While the stormy weather kept many of us under cover, it didn’t dampen our spirits. Thousands of people came to support our mission- including an overwhelming number of Family Teams. A record number of Family Teams registered for the March for Babies this year. In total, we had 183 registered Family Teams! In Omaha alone, Family Team registration was up 57% from 2008. Family Teams have raised thousands of dollars towards our goal but we are not there yet! Our Family Team goal is $100,000. To date, we have raised $49,000. Out of the 183 Family Teams in Omaha and Lincoln, 110 teams have turned in donations so far. It’s really no surprise, but March for Babies is feeling the economic crunch. Despite everyone’s best efforts, we’re still $50,000 short of our fundraising goal. We are asking each Family Team to do what you can to help raise additional funds. If each registered walker raises just $50 more, we will be on our way to meeting our goal. Every bit helps. Please contact your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, classmates and ask for a donation today. If you are a Mission Family who did not participate in March for Babies this year, its not too late! You can still fundraise and mail us your donations. THANK YOU! There is still time to fundraise! Please keep in mind that your fundraising efforts need not end just because we’re done marching.  Some fundraising ideas include spaghetti feeds, blue jeans day at your school or business, a bowling or skating party, a bake sale or garage sale, or a restaurant night at a local eatery. These Omaha and/or Lincoln restaurants are some who have donate a portion of proceeds to charity in the past: Valentinos, Noodles, Mama’s Pizza and Lo Sole Mio. Mailing Donations: Please mail any additional donations to: (In Omaha) 11840 Nicholas Street Omaha, NE 68154 (In Lincoln) 315 South 9th St. Lincoln, NE 68508 Insert picture

2. Erin, Andrew and Taiton Trausch of Roseland, NE were very excited to learn that a new addition to their family would be coming in May. Everything was going well until Erin went to her Dr. appointment on February 4 at 25 weeks pregnant. There she got the startling news that she was starting to dilate 15 weeks too soon. Because of her situation the Dr. told her she would have to go to Omaha to The Nebraska Medical Center. She would have to stay there on bed rest until her baby was born. Erin’s family and friends from the Hastings area were there the first few weeks she was admitted but after awhile most of them had to return to work. Luckily, the March of Dimes NICU Family Support program had just branched out to support mothers on hospital bed rest. Abby Saunders, the NICU Family Support Specialist visited her a couple of times each week where they visited, made keepsakes for her baby, and she was able to meet another mom on bed rest. After 4 weeks in the hospital, the Trausch family welcomed their new baby girl. Joslynn was born at 29 weeks weighing 3 lbs. 7 oz. Although that was a good weight for her gestation they found out soon after that she had a condition called Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL). PVL is caused by insufficient blood flow to parts of a baby’s brain before birth , during delivery or after birth (cpparent.org). This condition may cause cerebral palsy and /or developmental delays. They will not know how PVL has affected Joslynn until she is about 12 months old but in the meantime they plan on working with an early intervention team in Hastings to monitor her development. When Erin was asked what the NFS program had offered her she stated, “I didn’t know anybody else in the NICU but I knew when I got there I could see Abby and that really helped my transition. It was nice to see a familiar face that could help me understand everything that was going on around me. I felt she cared sincerely about me and my family and that was so comforting.” After a few weeks in the NICU, Erin was able to attend some NICU Family Support hours where she said she was able to escape for awhile and meet several other moms there. Erin said, “Connecting with other NICU moms was especially helpful because I had support from others that were facing problems of their own. I also felt good about supporting them as well.” The Trausch family were finally able to bring Joslynn home on April 29. Erin said that after 11 weeks of being in the hospital, Joslynn’s big brother Taiton (age 4) is so happy to have his whole family under one roof. Article By: Abby Saunders NICU Family Support Specialist

3. Team Maisy! The March of Dimes is fortunate to have so many new and veteran Family Teams participate each year in the March for Babies. This year, we’d like to highlight a new team whose brown and pink team shirts were hard to miss at this years walk. Maisy was born at 29 weeks at 2lbs, 4oz and 14 inches long to Katrina and Tim Regan. She spent 61 days in the NICU. During this time, Maisy was given a blanket from the March of Dimes and the Regans knew that it would be an important mission for their family. They started “Team Maisy” in honor of their daughter. March for Babies 2009 was Team Maisy’s first walk with the March of Dimes. They recruited over 50 people to walk with them. Katrina approached friends, family and emailed co-workers and other people in Maisy’s life. They made sure to tell everyone why this is such an important mission for them. They encouraged their walkers to email friends and family to help sponsor them in their walk. They also held fundraisers which included selling t-shirts, fundraising nights at local restaurants who agreed to donate a percentage of sales to their team, and Easter egg hunt and a “meet and greet” night. All of their hard work paid off – they raised over $4,200 for the March of Dimes! As a new team, the Regans really enjoyed the opportunity to meet other Family Teams at the March for Babies. All their walkers enjoyed the food, fun and entertainment! The Regans encourage all Mission Families to participate in the future – to help all babies have a healthy start! March of Dimes Day at the Royals Please join the March of Dimes at an Omaha Royals baseball game & tailgate party! Sunday, June 28th Tailgate Party 12:00 PM Baseball Game 1:35 PM Royals vs. Albuquerque Tickets available $5. Tickets can be purchased at the March of Dimes Office or at the Tailgate Party. The March of Dimes Ambassador, Kate Vossen, will throw the first pitch! Its also Family Fun day at the Royals. There will be face painting and kids can run the bases! Omaha Families Save the Date! What: Mission Family Barbeque Where: Zorinsky Lake Shelter #1 – 156th St Entrance. When: Sunday, August 2, 2009 4:00 PM Why: Meet new mission families and catch up with old friends! There will be food and fun for all ages! Bring your entire family and enjoy. More details to come. Lincoln Mission Family Picnic Please plan to attend a Mission Family Picnic on May 31st, 2009 at Holmes Lake Park. We will gather under Shelter #3, off the 70th Street entrance. Food and fun starts at 2PM! All food and beverages will be provided. Simply bring your family and friends and enjoy!

4. Central Nebraska – Get ready for March for Babies! September 20, 2009 Grand Island: Stolley Park Registration Time: 10:00 am Start Time: 11:00 am Kearney: Yanney Heritage Park Registration Time: 12:00 pm Start Time: 1:00 pm Recipes Needed! We are producing a March of Dimes cook book to use as a fundraising tool and we would like all mission families to participate!    Please email or mail us any recipes that you might want to have included.  It’s going to be a very classy hardcover book and we’d love to have all of our mission families represented.     Bon Appetit! Email: Diana Wilkins at dwilkins@marchofdimes.com Word documents would be best. Its not too early to register your Family Team! Go to www.marchforbabies.org and register your Family Team! Follow the instructions provided online to register. You will receive confirmation emails detailing your logon information and a link to a personal web page that you can use to track your fundraising and recruit walkers! Questions? Please call 402-496-7111 or email Cathy Brown at cbrown@marchofdimes.com Nebraska Chapter 11840 Nicholas Street Omaha, NE 68154 (402) 496-7111 marchofdimes.com/nebraska