Day Five of 30 Days of Project Sweet Peas Giveaway!

As I have written about so many times before, one of the things that I do to remember and honor my son is donate care packages to families that have a baby in the NICU. I am able to do this through the help and support of Project Sweet Peas, which is a group of families just like mine, who have been in the NICU and know how hard it is. There are twelve local project spread out across the country that deliver these care packages. I am honored to be a part of this organization. And we need your help!!!

We have applied for a grant through the Pepsi Refresh Project, and have been selected as a finalist to win a $25,000 grant!! So here is how you can help us: vote once a day, every day for Project Sweet Peas to win. We need to be in the top ten at the end of the month to win. And to entice you to help us out and vote every day, I am doing a 30 Days of Project Sweet Peas giveaway! Everyday in the month of April I will be writing about the amazing things going on in Project Sweet Peas. And if you leave a comment that you voted each day, I will randomly pick one of these comments to win an Awareness Braceletof your choice! I make awareness bracelets of all colors, and I have a Pregnancy and Infant Loss Charm Bracelet featured right now. 

**Please note that you must leave a comment each day to qualify for the giveaway for that day. **


Welcome to Day Five of 30 Days of Project Sweet Peas!! Currently we are in 19th Place in the Pepsi Refresh Grant Giveaway! We need to be in the top 10 in order to receive the grant, so please, please, please keep voting!! And if you vote leave a comment and tell me, and you can win a FREE awareness bracelet!! Before I tell you about another project, I want to thank Michelle at Missing Juanito for the lovely picture of MJ's name. I just love seeing his name on things, and what a perfect Easter gift for my baby boy!

Shelby's Sunshine is another amazing Project Sweet Peas that donate bags to hospitals in Indiana. Here is Shelby's Story . . .

Our daughter Shelby Grace was born on July 10,2006.  At 18 weeks in utero she was diagonsed with a left sided Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH).  When she was born she was placed on ECMO.  She stayed on ECMO for 7 days.  Her first diaphragmatic hernia surgery was done on her ninth day of her life.  Shelby's spline, large/small intestine, liver and part of her stomach were up in her left side chest cavity.  The surgery placed all these organs back to their correct spots.  The surgery was a success...the bad side was Shelby's left lung was not developed because of all the organ's being pushed up in the left side chest
cavity. Through-out the next year Shelby went through another diaphragmatic hernia surgery(which was a huge shock), a G-tube was placed in her stomach, a nissen was performed, she had a hital hernia surgery, her cliff lip was repaired and she was hospitalized for numerous reasons.

We struggled everyday to continue to keep her healthy and keep her out of the hospital. At home where Shelby's three older sister.  Who to this day have been a HUGE assest in Shelby's recovery.

At the age of three, Shelby continues to amaze us daily.  That is why we call her "Amazing Grace".  She has a Mickey Button to help her continue to gain weight, to keep her healthy and to help give her calories she does not get from eating ny mouth. The good news is, Shelby is eating more and more by mouth.  Our hope is she will someday soon be able to get rid of her mickey button.

We do not know what the future holds for Shelby's health, we will continue to fight for her and give her the best we can. We do know it is time to give back to families that are in NICU's in the state of Indiana.  To let them know they are not alone.  To let them know there are other families that have walked in their shoes and are willing to show them some extra love, support and much hope.