Happy Fall ya’ll! This has been such a beautiful month, full of so many special days that I feel truly blessed and thankful to have my life. Not only is this my favorite time of year, but we live in the Northeast, so fall is amplified by the cooler temps, changing leaves, carriage rides through the city, apple picking at country orchards and ofcourse, cheering on our favorite football teams. October has been full of many firsts for Sutton too – his first NICU Reunion (see post below), his first Birthday and his first Pumpkin Patch visit! If October is just the beginning of the fall and winter, then it’s certainly going to be a magical season. I don’t see us slowing down anytime soon!
   With that said, the His Middle Name cause doesn’t show any signs of slowing down either! As His Middle Name gears up for November, which is Prematurity Awareness Month, I have some exciting news that will help in our efforts to raise awareness and educate. I am pleased to share that His Middle Name is now featured as a recommended resource site on Preemie Help, an international nonprofit support site for parents and families of preemies. Preemie Help (http://preemiehelp.com/) is an up and coming, premier website that offers a community of understanding to families impacted by preterm birth. Started by Dr. Carly Molloy, Preemie Help offers so many resources from relevant and up to date health information and prevention strategies to support services and even clinical research. I have had the pleasure of being in contact with Dr. Molloy, and she is an expert in her field – a compassionate woman eager to create a warm community that educates and advocates. A unique aspect of Preemie Help’s approach is their ever growing, ever evolving “Preemie Connect,” a live virtual community of chat rooms, support groups and health forums. A user friendly resource hub where I can ask questions, access information and receive support? Where do I sign up?!
    His Middle Name is honored to be associated with this wonderful initiative. I encourage each of you to visit Preemie Help online – I promise once you visit, you will be coming back again and again. I will also be featuring a special treat supported by Preemie Help just for the followers of His Middle Name within the next few days. This will be a great way to kick off Prematurity Awareness Month, so stay connected with His Middle Name and get ready to fight the good fight!

   Today is Sutton’s first birthday! There are no words to express how amazing it feels to have precious Sutton one year older, and how much joy he brings into our lives with his curious nature and his lively smile. Every day he is learning something new  - discovering wondrous things in the small and mundane. As much as I’d like to think Brad and I are teaching Sutton when we read to him, sing to him and make him laugh, I can’t help but realize how much he is teaching us. I have found that great, unexplainable newness that we all felt as children, and am reminded by my son that there are extraordinary things in the ordinary. It really is like peeling back the layers on life, and seeing it all in a new light. I can’t express how thankful I am to have this sweet child in my life, and how I would go through all of it again and again just to have him.
   To celebrate Sutton’s first year of life, we are hosting a small birthday party for him this coming weekend. It will just be a small get together of our closest friends and family. These were the people that were really there for us, lifting us up in prayer and loving us through the most difficult time of our life. For our family, it will be a celebration of life and love, with a fun fall theme and delicious treats! But just because we are celebrating Sutton’s birthday in a few days doesn’t mean that this weekend was devoid of any indulgence. This past weekend was Sutton’s first NICU Reunion! It was a perfect autumn day with so much love and gratitude in the air, that I often got lost in the emotion of it all. We were welcomed with hugs and name tags, and the NICU staff really went above and beyond to make the day special. There was so much to enjoy - pumpkin picking, games, face painting, cotton candy, a professional photographer, music and delicious food for all of the families. It’s a strange thing to realize, but the NICU is where most of us learned to be parents for the first time. Where we held our babies for the first time, visited and comforted them, bathed them and fed them. Sutton’s stay in the NICU was almost three months long, so the relationships we built within the NICU are deep and strong ones.  Just to see the look on their faces when they saw how big Sutton had grown to be was priceless! It was just so wonderful to reconnect with all the other parents and visit with all of the doctors, neonatologists and nurses that were apart of our journey. As I watched older children run and play, healthy and capable, I realized that I was looking at former preemies that had grown and thrived. It was inspiring to see. Learning and loving through the help of the NICU was an amazing part of our journey, and it was such a cathartic experience for us to go back, give thanks and celebrate the life of a boy. Our son. One year older.