by Sarah | Jun 19, 2013 | All About Denver, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Autism, Blogging Life, Cystic Fibrosis, Hospital, Special Needs, Sponsored
With my first child, I never heard of cord blood banking. It was around, but I was young and trying to figure out how I was going to do this whole parenting thing, and it wasn’t a blip on my radar. With my girls, this childbirth thing was old hat, although the larger family freaked me out and I was worried about finances and our small home and all the little details. In both cases I heard of cord blood, I researched it (kind of), and dismissed it. After all, my kids wouldn’t ever be sick. Denver was healthy as a horse (I thought), and my other two children would be the same.
Hindsight.
Now that I have two kids with Cystic Fibrosis, a very young niece with cancer, and have a much broader view of the world thanks to blogging, I wish I’d made that choice.
Through cord blood banking, you can collect and preserve potentially lifesaving stem cells, and doing so could one day save the life of your child or a blood relative. You can bank even more stem cells by collecting them from 2 usable sources of stem cell-rich blood: the umbilical cord and the placenta. This service is called Placental and Cord Blood Banking, and it’s available only from LifebankUSA. Whether you choose Placental and Cord Blood Banking or Cord Blood Banking alone, there are many important reasons to choose LifebankUSA.
There’s only one opportunity to save your baby’s stem cells for the future…
As an expectant parent, your baby’s health means everything. Right now, he or she is protected in the womb and will soon enter the world. There is a lot to think about and prepare for, but an invaluable step you can take when your child is born is to preserve his/her stem-cell rich cord and placenta blood The ability of stem cells to save lives via cord blood banking has proven successful for replacing abnormal or diseased cells, and treating life-threatening blood disorders such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. In fact, since 1988 stem cell transplants have been used to treat some 80 diseases. No, Cystic Fibrosis isn’t on that list – but I imagine one day it will be.
I’m done having children, fate and biology means my body is no longer able to have them, but if I could, I’d bank the blood. I recommend it to those I know debating it. Sure, the odds of illness might be small – but then as I’ve learned, you just never know.
Today, LifeBankUSA is having a contest, and you can win a SpaFinder Gift Card worth $200. Just head over to Facebook to enter the contest. It’s super easy!! (All those links, and the top image on the page will take you to the contest!)
And seriously, consider cord banking. It’s worth it.
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ABOUT LIFEBANKUSA
As the only company that offers cord blood, placenta blood and tissue banking — and the first to release placenta-derived stem cells for a successful transplant — New Jersey-based LifebankUSA is a technological leader that is pioneering key medical innovations in the field. Owned by the Celgene Corporation, a world-class biopharmaceutical company, LifebankUSA also operates a robust donation program and collects cells from anywhere in the US for use primarily in advancing medical research.
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*Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by LifebankUSA. I was paid for this post, but all opinions are my own heartfelt truth. I never take my children’s health for granted, and you can’t pay me to lie about it.
by Sarah | May 14, 2013 | All About Family, All About Molly, All of Us, Autism, Special Needs
Sometimes it’s a thought in the back of our heads.
Most days we try not to imagine that it might happen that way.
Our vision of ‘perfect’ for our kids was always, as most parents is, that they grow up and out, have their own lives, their own loves.
For the most part, we haven’t redefined that vision, that dream.
Some days, though…we worry about this one.
What if her quirks hold her back?
Her misunderstanding of emotion leaves her alone?
Most of the time we ignore the fears. We focus on her growth, her excellent development socially, listen to her dreams of being a model.
Until the day one of our myriad of doctors says, “That one may never leave the nest.”
It puts a rock solid lump in your belly to hear it from a professional.
I guess it’s a good thing my trust for doctors is in the toilet.
Because I refuse to believe it.
At least for today.
And for the future.
Until proven otherwise.
by Sarah | Dec 13, 2012 | All About Kennedy, All About Molly, All of Us, Autism, Special Needs
[flickr id=”8265585712″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”none”]I remember writing many letters to Santa. Asking for Cabbage Patch Dolls, Ballerina Barbies, and Star Wars figurines (Princess Leia, please…and ewoks).
Santa ended up on the receiving end of so many of my wishes and hopes. Many unmet, and many that were.
Not once did I ever ask Santa for something for my brother.
Ever.
And yet…today as I read these words from my middle child, “Can you get my sister a barbie for her”.
My heart is just filled with pride. Joy. Love.
The past couple of months have been difficult.
Behaviorally.
Emotionally.
The end of the year naturally causes chaos, but outside forces have added so much more to our lives that some days I fear one, or all, of us might just break.
And then I see the kindness hidden under layers of quirks. The love expressed – perhaps with the help of her aide, perhaps all on her own – toward a sister I often have to keep her from abusing.
And for a little while.
Just a few minutes.
There is peace.
by Sarah | Aug 23, 2012 | All About Molly, Autism, Special Needs
[flickr id=”7665948176″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]The new school year began a week ago.
We didn’t get the early meeting with the teacher we’d expected.
We did get a phone call the day before. A 15-30 minute talk with her teacher about Molly and what to expect and where she should sit and what to expect and how she’d been at home (a bit bonkers in anticipation of the change). The call went well, I think we got things across and I liked her over the phone.
Molly has been…
Happy.
Busy (read: a bit ADD).
Talkative (?!!!?).
There hasn’t been (so far) any of the violent out-breaks of last year. No major throwing of fits. There’s a 7 year old’s attitude, but nothing in the extreme ranges.
I don’t know if its having a teacher with a different personality. Or now 2 years experience under her belt. Or what….
But so far so good.
Fingers crossed that it keeps up.
Now if only she hadn’t brought home the cold virus ~achoo~
by Sarah | Jul 2, 2012 | All About Erik, All About Molly, Autism, Special Needs
[flickr id=”7089103379″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Erik is in his 40’s now. Many years have passed since he’s had to live through school, classmates, the pressures of schoolwork.
But he still remembers.
The stress.
The desire to get away from chaos.
His ‘coping’ mechanism that gave kids a way to pick on him.
The “other”-ness he felt.
From day 1, Molly’s uncanny resemblance to her Dad has echoed in every picture, every look, every nuance and quirk.
It’s been both a source of great joy for him – and a source of great fear.
You never want your children to feel the pain you did.
And when you have one like Molly – one that struggles to express herself.
You don’t always know.
But sometimes you do.
You see it in her eyes.
You feel it in your heart.
Every day this past year I worried over Molly’s separation from her classmates.
It leaves me to wonder – how much does she know it? How much does she feel it? Will she remember when she’s in her 40’s? Or have we been able to spare her some of the pain? How long will these issues echo in her life, even with appropriate therapy?
The saving grace in her life is her sister.
Kennedy is the social butterfly to Molly’s cocooned existence. Kennedy relates to her when others can’t. For now, at least, Kennedy is her safe place.
If only we could keep her from beating the crap out of her safe place.
by Sarah | Jun 12, 2012 | All About Molly, Autism, IEP, Special Needs
[flickr id=”5888385257″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]I’m pretty certain that I would not be remiss to say that the beginning of last years school year was a colossal failure. If we sat all involved parties down at the end of the day we would all agree that the road became more rocky than needed.
The school didn’t listen to us. Her teacher didn’t listen to us. Molly was unprepared for school starting again, unprepared for the new teacher…all of us were unprepared for all developments.
This year we’re putting the cart before the horse.
Before last year ended we talked to the principal to make sure we are prepared for the fall.
We will know who Molly’s teachers are before the school year starts. Molly will have a chance to meet her (her homeroom at least, if not all three teachers) before the school year starts.
More importantly, we will meet with them before the school year starts.
We won’t wait for “Meet the teacher” night. We won’t be ignored and told “Oh I don’t look at previous years”.
This year we will be heard.
We will cut the crap off at the past.
We will show that we learned from our mistakes – and force the school to learn too.
Now that I have two kids with Cystic Fibrosis, a very young niece with cancer, and have a much broader view of the world thanks to blogging, I wish I’d made that choice.
