$500,000 Baby

First off, a great big THANK YOU to everyone who has already purchased candles. Half of your purchase price goes to the March of Dimes!!

Yes, you read the subject line correctly - $500,000 is the approximate total of William's medical bills for his first two years of life. Luckily we have great insurance and haven't had to pay near this amount, but think about those parents who don't have insurance.

Our WalkAmerica team's total goal is to raise $500. That is the cost of ONE visit from the neonatologist in the NICU. William spent a total of 29 days in the NICU, bringing his total for doctor visits alone to $14,500. That does not include the cost of the hospital stay, lab work, etc. That is for him to see the doctor for about 5 minutes a day because he was not a complicated case, thank God!
William came home on liquid caffeine to help control his apnea of prematurity that cost $40/day! He was on this medication for 4 months. He also came home on an apnea monitor that monitored his breathing and heart rate and alarmed if there were any problems. He was on this monitor until he was 7 months old at $500/month. Home health came out to check on him at least once a month through his first winter and once a month through his second winter. The nurses administered his RSV Synagis shots through both winters (Oct through March) that cost $1500 a vial. By the end of his second winter, he took 4 vials.

I am not giving you all of this information to say "woe are we". I am giving you this information because most people do not have any clue how expensive it is to have a premature baby. William did not have any major problems, we were very lucky. I know babies who have medical bills upwards of $1 million.

The medical bills are not the only difficulties that face families with premature babies. The emotional toll that comes with not knowing if your baby will survive or have developmental delays is one you will never know until you are there. A mother with a baby that is extremely premature (between 24 weeks and 30 weeks) may not even be able to hold her child for months. This is due to the different machinery that is needed to help keep that child alive and the fact that a baby's central nervous system is not developed at that point and the slightest touch is actually painful. I could never imagine what it feels like to know that my touch would cause pain in my child.

Please help us fight this battle that is becoming a bigger problem every day. Prematurity is on the rise and unless we do something about it, more babies will suffer.

The March of Dimes is an amazing organization who not only helps premature babies, but all babies. Visit their website and you will find information about all of the great things that they have done over the years.

If you have not bought a candle, please consider purchasing one. If you cannot purchase a candle, please consider a small donation. Every dollar helps!!! Each donation received will in turn receive a special "thank you" from William and our family. You can donate directly on-line on our WalkAmerica site www.walkamerica.org/willcovington. If you wish to purchase a candle, you need to do so by Friday. You can send the payment to me or you can send it through PayPal. E-mail me at nettemarie2@yahoo.com and I will send you that information.

Thank you so much for all of your support!!
Johnette Covington
Team Captain for Team William
Preemie Mom


The scents we are selling are:
Bird of Paradise
Cider and Cinnamon
Cucumber Melon
Fresh Linen
Lemon Grass
Sweet Pea

You are purchasing a 100% soy wax 16 ounce candle and they are $15.00 each. 100% of the PROCEEDS ($7.50) goes to the March of Dimes Baton Rouge and Surrounding Areas Chapter.