March For Babies Miami Valley

Last weekend we participated in our 4th March for Babies! I can't believe it's been almost 4 years since the twins were born! This was our first Ohio march so we felt a bit out of place.

And it definitely wasn't 70 and sunny like we are used to with the Los Angeles march.

 The kids were pretty happy to stay bundled up in the stroller. We still managed to squeeze in some pre-walk fun though.

and get a picture with the kids for a hot second before they wanted back in the stroller.

35 weeks pregnant and still marching along! Luckily, there was no rain, but the cold didn't make for the most chipper kids.

The highlight of the event was the capes! Amelia was so in love with hers, she wore it grocery shopping with me the next day.

What a great way to get the kids involved and something fun for them to earn for their fundraising efforts (even though it was mostly still my fundraising efforts, since, ya know, they're 3, but they felt very involved which I think is great!).

They're super cute capes and I think they will be used for many dress up games in the future.

The overall walk was nice, but it was cold. There was food at the end that was great but it started to rain once we finished so they were packing up the kids play area with bubbles and sand and games for the kids, so they didn't really get to participate in much of the fun things they would have enjoyed the most (more than sitting in a stroller for an hour while we walked haha)

If the weather had been a little warmer, it probably would have been a bit of a happier stroller crowd.

Thank you so much to everyone who donated to our team! We had another successful walk and the twins really are so excited for their capes! I'm hoping there will be better weather next year (and I'll be able to walk a bit faster)!

We Are Marching...Saturday!

I can't believe it's already March for Babies time!

I've never had to worry about the weather being anything other than 70 and sunny (that's LA living y'all), so we'll see how things go with the temps in the 50s and possible rain. I'm sure it will still be fun and hopefully we can keep the kids in good spirits!

And I'll be walking 3 miles almost 9 months pregnant. That should be fun. I did "run" a 5k 36 weeks pregnant with Ben, so it's apparently my thing.

I wanted to do 1 more shout out for donations and supporters of our team! The twins are trying to reach their $100 goals before Saturday and they could use your help! You don't have to pick favorites, but you can donate to Jackson HERE and Amelia HERE. They'd love your support!

Amelia was such a great helper the other day and helped me tie dye our signature team shirts (for the kids, because they keep growing on me!)

 Please note: Only my calm little girl was involved in this project. The wild and crazy boys were stuck inside while we tie dyed. She actually listens and follows instructions, key milestones to hit before allowing your 3 year old to tie dye anything. Just in case you were wondering ;)

She was so proud. And so excited mommy let her help. She managed to only get a little on me (none on her...amazingly), so we MIGHT try this project again with our leftover colors. MAYBE. When I feel very brave and calm.

Back on track,thanks everyone who has sponsored our team so far and those that will do so! I'll let you know how Saturday goes...and hopefully I'll still be pregnant to tell you all about it!

Why We Walk Wednesday

The March for Babies is approaching quickly and we are ready to walk! I will be exactly 35 weeks at the march and hoping to enjoy a beautiful day with my family of 5 before we become a family of 6!

So for anyone who doesn't know why we march, I wanted to share our story again of why the March of Dimes has come to mean so much to us.

I was literally told I had nothing to worry about and my twins weren't being born any time soon. The twins were healthy, I was healthy, there were absolutely no indications of anything going wrong mere hours before everything DID go wrong. Preterm labor isn't something anyone expects. You think people have babies early because they had complications, were on bed rest, had health issues or their baby had health issues and that's simply not the case. Preterm labor can start with anyone in a matter of minutes and if not handled quickly, can lead to preterm birth. When my water broke at just 26 weeks pregnant, I had no idea what was happening. Good doctors and nurses managed to keep things under control but when I got an infection, I had to give birth extremely prematurely. The twins missed the "micropreemie" category but 1-2oz a piece. Their combined weight at birth was almost 3lbs less than Ben's birth weight...and newsflash, Ben was far from a big baby at only 6lbs 14oz.

After they were born and we came home from the hospital, I signed up to walk in the March for Babies in Los Angeles. I met some great moms in a moms of preemies group and we raised over $1000 that year for the March of Dimes. We didn't have to march or raise money. We were busy enough with newborn preemie twins. Jackson did his first walk still on oxygen for sleeping and with an O2 canister/pulsox and breathing meds in the car "just in case". We were raising money between going to therapy and doctors appointments, in the thick of the preemie challenges, but for another family to not have to go through what we were going through, that is why we did it.

 We could have stayed home and rested and taken a day off from our crazy lives, but the March of Dimes was important to us and we wanted to walk.

And we've continued to walk since then. We haven't missed a year, no matter what state we were in. We've participated in the March for Babies in California and Pennsylvania and this year, we're adding Ohio to the list!

The kids have grown. Many of their preemie "complications" have resolved. Some are still lingering. But it still means so much to us to see the hundreds of people marching for their babies, friends' babies, neighbors' babies, family members' babies, future babies that aren't born yet, all to make sure they are born full term and healthy.

So when people ask us why we walk, all I can do is show you these faces.

These faces, that might not be here without the help of therapies developed from research funded by the March of Dimes. These faces are worth a few dollars and a few hours of a Saturday morning. These face are why we walk.

 

March for Babies Fundraiser Winner!

Last week went from quiet to crazy busy so I forgot to announce, the winner of the cupcakes from our March for Babies fundraiser is Stephanie K.! I will be in touch with you about your cupcakes! ;) Thank you so much to everyone who supported our team! We raised over $50 for our team through this fundraiser!

If you missed the chance, you can still donate, just follow this link here!

I would write something exciting but it is still cold and snowy here so we've been mostly staying in, watching movies, playing games doing yoga and bear crawls around the living room, wishing we could go outside. We did go sledding when it was a warm and sunny 25 degrees last week. It felt like the tropics and I couldn't get the kids to come inside! I mommy failed and didn't take any pictures! We were just enjoying the sunshine. Good thing, because now it's snowing like crazy. Again. I'm ready for some warm weather, parks and clear roads so we can leave the house! :)

26 weeks

I am 26 weeks pregnant.

The last time I was 26 weeks pregnant, nothing happened.

The time before that...well...things got crazy.

At 26 weeks pregnant, I was lounging in my parents pond (pool? haha). Tom had just made it to California after a very long week of driving across the country. He was settling in with my brother and his friend. I was supposed to fly to California in a few days. I was enjoying my last few days of a beautiful summer in Pennsylvania. I noticed some brown discharge. I texted my friend. She told me to get it checked out if I was worried. My mom drove me to the ER. They tested me, they did an ultrasound, they monitored me for contractions. Nothing. Everything looked perfect. Big sigh of relief! I ate a meatball sub from Subway at 9pm (because in my small town, that's all that was open at 9pm and we were too tired for much else after an evening in the hospital). I went to sleep.

I woke up to a gush and immediately burst into tears. In the bathroom I noticed blood. I went back to the ER and they thought I was just being crazy. Then they saw the blood. No one thought I was crazy anymore.

It was another week before the twins came but it was still way too early for them to be born.

Everyone says to me, well they're twins, twins always come early. Twins come 2-3 weeks early. Twins don't come 13 weeks early. That's a HUGE difference. 10 week difference is a quarter of a pregnancy. Not even twins are supposed to be born at 27 weeks.

With my next pregnancy, they chalked my preterm delivery up to twins as well. That made me super nervous. Even the NICU agreed, 13 weeks is too early for ANY pregnancy. I spent most of the pregnancy freaking out, but happily, at about 37 weeks, breathed a long sigh of relief. I had made it to term!

But why didn't the twins make it further? No one could really tell me. Why did my 2nd pregnancy go better? Luck? Just better circumstances? Not being twins? No one really knew.

So my 3rd pregnancy. 26 weeks. When my water broke with the twins. You will probably find me spending my late nights watching Parenthood on Netflix, because I know I won't be sleeping much, wondering if my water was going to break now? or now? or in an hour? Or as soon as I fall asleep.

I find it kind of funny that both pregnancies, my labor started with water breaking with no other signs of labor. Both times my water broke in the middle of the night, around 1-2am. 1st time, was dramatic, I knew it. The 2nd time, I didn't even think it was my water until I rolled out of bed, got a shower, and noticed I was still leaking. I'm anxious to see how this one will happen. When it will happen. Hopefully not this week, or next, or ideally for the next 13 weeks, give or take a day or so. Hopefully this is a May little girl.

But I don't think I'll ever be able to get through my 26th week of pregnancy calmly ever again. If I have another 26 week. Which is an entirely different discussion for an entirely different post. We'll just enjoy this baby for now. And pray I make it past 26 weeks.

If you want to help preemie families and research to prevent prematurity, I encourage you to visit our March for Babies page!

If you're local, please come walk with us and learn more about this great organization that has been a huge support to us these past few years!

March for Babies Fundraiser!

I did this fundraiser 2 years ago and it was a super sweet success so I'm so excited to say we're going to be doing it again and giving away a dozen cupcakes!!

My good friend and sorority sister makes amazing cakes and cupcakes...

 She has oh so graciously offered to make a dozen cupcakes to a lucky person who donates to our March for Babies team!

 And don't worry, she will ship them ANYWHERE over night to you so you don't have to live near her to win this delicious treat :)

So how does this work?

Simply donate $5 to our March for Babies team and I will enter you into the drawing to win a dozen of Ashley's delicious cupcakes! She's been so kind to let the winner pick the flavor of cupcakes they would like, here are some options from 2 years ago to give you some ideas ;)

  Raspberry-vanilla cupcakes with raspberry butter cream frosting
  Strawberry shortcake cupcakes with a vanilla cream filling and strawberry butter cream frosting
  Blackberry cupcakes with lemon filling and blackberry butter cream frosting 

or if your sweet tooth isn't quite up for those options she could make you a chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting or vanilla cupcakes with butter cream frosting.

Last time I joked about eating the entire dozen by myself. I'm totally not joking. And I'm pregnant now so I can get away with it ;)

 Want more chances to win? For every $10 you donate, I'll throw your name in the electronic hat 1 more time. So donate $5, get 1 chance to win. Donate $10, get 3! chances to win. Donate $20 and you'll get your name added 6 times! So the more you donate, the better your odds of winning!

Don't these make you think of Frozen cupcakes? Everyone with a daughter under the age of 8, you know you need a Frozen cupcake in your life ;)

Don't forget what you're donating to...with the help of the March of Dimes, hopefully we can put an end to prematurity and no more itty bitty babies like ours. So much of the technology used to save our childrens' lives was made possible from research funded by the March of Dimes. You really are saving lives by supporting the March of Dimes.

So the logistics one more time broken down for you.

• Fundraiser will be open until next Wednesday at noon EST. I will announce the winner Thursday morning and notify the winner by email so please include your email when you donate, if not, make sure you comment on this post so I have a way of getting in touch with you!
• Every $5 donated to our March for babies team will get 1 entry, for every $10, you will get an additional entry.
• Want 1 more entry? Share this fundraiser on your facebook, twitter, pinterest or any other social media site. Leave me a comment to let me know you shared this post and I will give you an additional entry.
• I will put everyone's entries onto a spreadsheet and let random.org do the hard job of picking the winner.
• You will receive 1 dozen cupcakes, flavor of your choosing, mailed to you for you and your family and friends (or just you...there's no judging here) to enjoy :)\

I'll make it super easy for you to enter...click on this picture!


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Please help us help babies and donate to our team! I'm super exciting to pick a winner on Thursday 2/26! Good luck! Thanks for supporting our team!

March for Babies 2014

I can't believe this weekend was our 3rd March for Babies! And our last Los Angeles march which is super sad :(

Here is the post from our FIRST March for Babies.

I apparently didn't write a post about our 2013 March but we did it in Altoona, PA with my family while Tom was on TDY for the Spring.

awww look at little Benny!

This year, we were back in LA and excited to be part of a big walk again!

 The twins loved all the music and running around before the walk started. Please note that Amelia is wearing the same skirt she wore on her first March for Babies, ya know, when she was 10 months old. It still fits. #preemieproblems

Our friends are the LA/Ventura Ambassador Family and gave a great speech telling their story! Their first daughter was due the same week as the twins and born just a few weeks after them in June (and way too early) and their second daughter was due the week after Benjamin and was born about a month before Ben (again, way too soon). So it's fun that we have kids the same ages!

and Hilary Duff was there! Fun!

Numbers of years I've lived in Los Angeles: 3 

Celebrity sitings: 1, at a big event in a huge crowd. Major LA fail ;)

 Another one of our military friends who has known the twins since they were itty bitty were finally able to join us this year! They're moving this summer too so I'm glad they got to join us for our last year here!

After the walk, they had bubbles and bouncey houses so the twins were pretty pumped about it ;) and to make things even better, they convinced us that we should go see a "rocket ship" again.

They love that space shuttle!

They also love the climate areas and the kelp forest at the science center. We had a fun day wandering around the museum after the March.

I'm so glad we got to be here for 1 last March for Babies! We've been involved with the Family Teams for 3 years now and made a lot of friends so I'll be sad to not be here to walk with them anymore. They were our first "preemie friends" from when the twins were super little so LA March for Babies will always have a special place in my heart. We still plan on being involved with the March of Dimes when we move so hopefully we meet another great group of people!

Thank you to everyone who donated and supported our team this year! 

Blue Ribbon Dresses MFB Fundraiser!

Thanks so much to everyone who helped with our Yankee Candle Fundraiser for our March for Babies Team! It was a great success with almost $100 raised!

But we're not done yet! The March for Babies is about 2 months away and we're still going strong! This week's fundraiser is for every little princess out there because for every donation you make to our team, you're entered to win an every day princess dress of your choosing!

A college friend of mine, Casey, married another college friend and they have 2 beautiful little girls. Sadly, her mom passed away last year from colorectal cancer and from that, she started Blue Ribbon Dresses to raise money for Fight Colorectal Cancer. March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month! Every dress made is not only a cute dress for your little one but you're also helping fund a young scientist's research grant whose focus is late stage colon cancer.

Casey is super talented and her dresses are adorable so we've joined forces to give one lucky Team Pepka Twins supporter a princess dress of their choice for the princess in their lives!

So how does it work? Simply go to our Team Page and donate! I will get a message saying you donated and put your name on a spreadsheet. Every $5 donation will get you ONE (1) entry. Every $20 will get you a bonus entry! So if you donate $20 you will get FIVE (5) instead of 4 entries.




The fundraiser will be open until Friday at 12pm PST. All donations made between now and then will be entered in the drawing. I will pick a random number on Friday and the name that is next to that number on the spreadsheet will be the winner! I'll announce the winner on the blog and send them an email. Fundraiser open to US residents and ANYONE can win (yes, even my mom...she was mad last time that she couldn't win, but I'll let family members names go on the list too this time since they're some of my biggest supporters, but there will be no preference. Names go on the spreadsheet in order of donation and the winner will be completely random)

Can't donate but still want to help? I'm offering an entry for every share on Facebook/Twitter/Blog/Social media of your choice! Simply share this post or our Team Page for donations and share the link in the comments below and tell me which princess dress you'd pick if you won! You can check out all of the princess dresses on Blue Ribbon Dresses Etsy page! Every share will get you ONE (1) entry! I will put your name on the list as I get your comments.

If a walker on our team led you to this page and you want to donate to them, you can find a list of the team members at the bottom of our team page. Simply click on their name and you can donate to them! Doesn't matter who gets it, we are all working towards the same goal to help all babies be born full term and healthy!

 

Questions? You can email me at Emily{dot}pepka{at}gmail{dot}com.

Want a Blue Ribbon Dress of your own? Check out Casey on Facebook and Etsy!

Good luck everyone and thanks for helping Team Pepka Twins as we March for Babies and Blue Ribbon Dresses!

March for Babies Family Teams Kickoff

One of my favorite things about this little old blog of mine is looking back...

Remember THIS?

You can't even see little Ben Ben all tucked in and cozy :)

Now want to throw it way back? Who is this baby?

And here we are...at our 3rd March for Babies Family Teams Kickoff!

My oh my how my babies have grown!

We had a blast playing at Giggles N Hugs in LA with all of our favorite preemie friends and families!

Look how much these girls have changed from Feburary 2013 to Feburary 2014

We got to meet JoJo's new baby sister this year which was fun! Her and Ben weren't sure how they felt about each other....

We're excited to kick off another March for Babies season and see everyone at the walk in a few months!