Dylan was our miracle, and he continues to be our inspiration. Because of him, we started a March of Dimes, March for babies team, Devoted to Dylan.

We found out early in the pregnancy, that our son would be facing many obstacles.  The doctors knew there would be surgeries, but we wouldn’t know the extent of Dylan’s challenges until he arrived. The doctors tried to prepare us as best they could, and even offered aborting my pregnancy. I told those doctors, that even if I only had minutes or days, I would be carrying my baby as long as he’d let me. He deserved that much. And in all honesty, I was in love when I first got my positive pregnancy test. Dylan L McGraw was born on August 14, 2011 via an emergency C-section. He let out two cries so that we knew he was there, and then the NICU team rushed him away to work on him. I was able to see a picture. I was unable to see my sweet boy until about 36 hours or so, because I couldn’t walk after surgery. Knowing my baby was sick and that I couldn’t go to him was gut-wrenching. The moment I was able to see him, I fell head over heels in love. 

Dylan showed us life and love in the absolute purest form. He knew no race, religion or of any matters/beliefs the rest of us allow to get in the way. He is the definition of forgiving and patient. Throughout countless blood draws, assessments, diagnoses, and eight surgical procedures, his little body and enormous spirit forgave, and loved unconditionally. If he was startled or scared he'd begin to cry for a moment just to let you know, and an instant later, would stop and forgive. Dylan is the strongest person I know, he fought and fought, but in the end, his little body just couldn’t. 

Dylan has taught not only his family these lessons, but also friends, and even the staff that worked on him at Children’s Hospital Of WI. We receive notes and letters from people telling us how much Dylan has inspired them or changed their lives. We hope these letters never stop. It is the greatest gift that they can possibly give us, knowing our son’s memory lives on and that he has touched so many people.

Please join our team, Devoted to Dylan, and help us honor him by raising awareness to infant prematurity, birth defects, and infant mortality. If you can’t walk with us, please donate to the cause. March of Dimes funds research to help prevent or treat birth defects, they also provide services at the hospitals for the families going through the scariest time of their lives. 

If you would like to walk with us, please visit our team page here: http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1935117

Most recently, I have been keeping myself busy with couponing :) (and thankfully my husband has been tolerating the piles of clipped coupons on the dining room table)
With the items I've been purchasing, I am making family NICU packs for the Children's hospital here in WI.  My husband and I know all too well what it feels like to spend 12+ hours at the hospital. We hope that these packs can bring some comfort to the mom's and dad's that are going through a very scary time in their lives.