On Mother's Day (Sunday)....thousands of adults (Moms and Dads included), kids and seniors will run the annual Mother's Day Run & Walk here in Calgary.
Included in those thousands will be Meg Tucker of the Freeway and Meg Morning Show and me! I've talked Meg into walking it with me (instead of running)....my 7 month pregnant belly is slowing me down!!
Last year's Run and Walk raised half a million dollars for the neo-natal intensive care unit and special care nurseries in the Calgary Health Unit. This year's event will benfit the same organizations. Monies raised, will buy 2 hybrid bed warmers, two cardiac monitors and two triple-channel intravenous pumps.
Meg and I are part of "Team Peyton".....I've attached the story of how Team Peyton came about. It's a very touching story.....we're both very proud to be part of their team!
As some of you know, this will be the 4th year that Team Peyton will be participating in the Forzani Group Foundation’s Mother’s Day Run & Walk (www.mdrunandwalk.com). This year, the funds raised will once again be going to a place that will always be close to our hearts: the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Units and Special Care Nurseries of Calgary (and surrounding area) hospitals.
As many of you know, we have some history with both these areas of the Rockyview and Foothills Hospitals. On January 15, 2006, we tragically and unexpectedly lost our first child, our precious baby girl Peyton Olivia LeManne just three days before her due date. The dedicated doctors and nurses tried desperately to save our little girl, but she passed away in mommy’s arms just 5 hours after she was delivered. She had inexplicably contracted an infection and had started to hemorrhage just 24 hours prior to her emergency delivery via c-section. Up until then she was a healthy, vibrant little girl, and her loss was devastating to us, our families and friends. Recovery has been a long and winding road, and we miss those dark and beautiful eyes every day. In her memory and fighting spirit, TEAM PEYTON was formed, and ran their inaugural run 4 months after her death, on Mother’s Day 2006. The team wound up raising nearly $10,000, and as a result of our success, a Family Team division was added to the event the following year.
Late summer 2006, we were lucky enough to get pregnant again, and were told right before Christmas that we were expecting a boy. As Peyton’s death was still somewhat of a medical mystery, our doctor recommended a scheduled c-section 3 weeks prior to our son’s due date. On April 30th, 2007, our darling boy Wesley Everitt Stephen LeManne was delivered. Not even an hour after delivery, the nurse noticed his wheezing and crying was not subsiding, and was sounding somewhat irregular. He was taken to the Special Care Nursery, where they diagnosed him with Hyaline Membrane Disease, (also known as Respiratory Distress Syndrome) due to a set of very underdeveloped lungs. His situation worsened over the next couple of days, and our strong little man had to be intubated to help him breathe, and had to have a chest tube inserted in his right side to help drain the pneumothorax* that subsequently developed. (*Air leaks between the chest and outer tissues of the lungs) As a result he was transferred from the Rockyview Hospital to the Foothills NICU for more intensive care. It was very difficult watching our little man in pain and fighting to breathe on his own. But day after day, he slowly got better, and after a harrowing two weeks, we were finally able to take him home, as luck would have it, on Mother’s Day—after Team Peyton (minus mommy and Wesley) ran their second year.
This Mother’s Day, Team Peyton will once again be running and walking in memory of our little girl, and now, in honour of her little brother as well. If it wasn’t for the NICU and Special Care Nurseries, and the skilled and dedicated doctors and nurses that staff them, Wesley would not be here with us today. We are eternally grateful for the services and care provided, and are committed to continue raising funds for the areas of the hospitals that house some of the most fragile and vulnerable patients.
Since Team Peyton’s inaugural run in 2006, we have raised more than $18,500. Last year we were the top Family Fundraising Team, and we hope to be again this year.
Please help Team Peyton in having our most successful year yet. All donations are greatly appreciated, and as you can see through our now-healthy baby boy Wesley, will be put to the best of uses.
Registration information for this Sunday's event can be found at mdrunandwalk.com
Have a GREAT weekend.....and Happy Mother's Day!!
Erin
