I need your help!

My wife and I are supporting the March of Dimes again this year. I don't like asking people for money but this is a very important cause. If you would like to donate you can do so by either seeing me or you can go to http://marchforbabies.org/dgooden I know times are tough but if you can donate it is truly appreciated and it does make a difference. For those of you who don't know our story here it is from my wife's perspective.

This first picture is Logan. We had 17 days with him that we will never forget.

This is Eli. He was born a healthy baby and is 6 months old. He is healthy because the March of Dimes has helped fund research to help prevent pre-term births.

Our story begins in June 2008… the first 23 weeks of my pregnancy had gone perfectly. I had virtually no morning sickness and was just enjoying being pregnant with our first child. But on June 16, that all changed. It was the day after Father’s Day and I went to the doctor with what I thought was a minor issue. Instead I was told that I was 3-4 cm dilated and that I was possibly losing amniotic fluid. I was taken to ultrasound, where I was told my fluid level was good, before being rushed to the hospital. I was put on magnesium sulfate and my doctor explained to us that I had an infection and it was impossible to know if the infection caused my cervix to dilate or my cervix dilating created the infection. Whatever had caused it, I was going to be in the hospital on strict bed rest for most, if not all, of the rest of my pregnancy. After a day or two we discovered that I was leaking fluid and my fluid was now next to gone. We were told that every day was a victory and that if we could make it to 24 weeks our child would have a much better chance of survival. After a few days I was taken off of the magnesium and given a different labor stopping drug and it was working.

It worked until June 27 when our son Logan decided he had waited long enough. He was born at 2:42am weighing 1 lb. 10 oz. and 13 in. long. I was given a few precious moments to see him before he was whisked to the NICU. An hour or so later I got to see him again and touch him for the first time. We were told again that every day was a victory and that we WOULD have good days and bad days. We were told that the situation could change very quickly. Over the next 17 days, we spent as much time as possible in that NICU. We were told that Logan was doing as well as could be expected. And then came the day that we were told that Logan’s kidneys weren’t functioning properly. The nurses and doctors weren’t overly worried at that point.

It all changed in a matter of hours. We received a call very early on Monday, July 14 that they had put Logan on a different kind of ventilator. They wanted to warn us so we wouldn’t be alarmed when we came to visit. We left for the hospital as quickly as possible. When we got there we were told that they were considering transferring our son to a different hospital that had a different kind of ventilator that might help him. While the nurses worked with him, we were taken to a private room to wait. It wasn’t long before a nurse came back in. She told us that Logan’s condition was declining rapidly and that we should come back in. Everything was a blur in that room. The nurses were doing chest compressions and administering drugs. But there was nothing that could be done and he died in our arms.

His life and death sent us down a path we never expected. We immediately became HUGE supporters of the March of Dimes because without their support, our son wouldn’t have lived even 17 days. We probably wouldn’t have had the chance to hold him and kiss him while he was alive.

In October 2010, partly due to the amazing research of the March of Dimes, we were blessed with the arrival of our second son, Eli. With the help of a preventative cerclage and 17P shots, I was induced at 39 weeks and Eli was born perfectly healthy at 8 lbs. We strive every day to keep the memory of our son alive in our home and to do what we can to prevent this from happening to other families.


Thanks.

Doug Gooden

Six Months

Today Eli turns six months old. I am off from work today because I have to work on Saturday. So Eli and I get to hang out together. He is growing up so fast. He changes every day. Anna and I are so blessed to have a wonderful baby. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about Logan. I wonder how things would be now, how he would be almost three and there would be three of us around the house right now. I know he is in a better place but I sure do miss him. Anna surprised me with a new toy. She got me an iPad 2. I was SUPER excited. I will post pictures below. As you can see Eli is starting early using the technology. I told Anna I would blog more now that I have an iPad. I hope I can keep that promise.