Sigma and the March of Dimes
My freshman year of college I decided to join a sorority for many reasons I won't get into here. I dragged my then timid roommate to a meet and greet event so I wouldn't have to go alone during spring recruitment. I was immediately drawn to one table and the sisters that were there. After talking to them for a while and hearing a bit about the sisterhood I decided to go to the events being held at the Sigma Sigma Sigma house. I was there for one night before I was hooked. Joining Tri Sigma was one of the best decisions I made during college.
I made some of my best friends through my sorority. It became a family and a home away from home while at college. I took full advantage of everything this group had to offer me. As they say, you must give much to receive much. I lived in the house after studying abroad and later with more sisters my senior year, I served in various leadership positions throughout the semesters, had the best family tree, worked hard at the annual Greek Week competition and of course partied with my sisters (not going to lie that college was a good time).
One of the things I especially loved about Tri Sigma was its philanthropy. Perhaps not well known is how much sororities do for different charities and groups across the country. The main theme of my group's work is "Sigma serves children." Besides funding scholarships and leadership opportunities for sisters, Tri Sigma's philanthropy arm works with play therapy for sick kids in hospitals throughout the country. Recently they have announced a partnership with the March of Dimes which in my opinion is absolutely wonderful. If you don't know, the March of Dimes now works with premature babies and research, something near and dear to my heart.
If you follow my blog then you know that my girls were born prematurely at 34 weeks and a few days. Going to the hospital the night they were born and knowing that they were going to come early was terrifying. When my water broke I started crying; I was scared because I knew that they would be small, under-developed, and would need to most likely spend time at the hospital. What was even more scary was not knowing if they would have serious and immediate problems and what those might be. I didn't know if their early arrival would be something that would affect their development over time (something we are still dealing with even now). I was lucky. My girls were born underweight but relatively healthy. Below I am going to post some pictures of the night they were born, some that I have not shared before because they break my heart. These are my girls at their most fragile, right when they were admitted into the NICU.
These are the images that Jose took while I was still recovering from my C-section. These pictures are the first that I got to see of my babies after only being able to glance at them during my surgery as I only saw them off to the side being weighed and measured before they were taken quickly away. These photos scare me even now as I see my twins with monitors, IVs, feeding tubes, so small, so new, even as my healthy and beautiful girls sit next to me while I write. These pictures remind me of why groups like the March of Dimes are important, are essential, are working for babies around the world, just like mine.
The March of Dimes is involved with research looking to discover the causes of premature birth as well as how to save preemies' lives through treatment of common complications and problems these babies face. It's important work being done to help the smallest and most indefensive among us. Being a preemie mom and a Tri Sigma alumna makes me proud of this new partnership between the two groups. I am excited to see what my sorority can do to contribute to this philanthropy that impacts so many lives. Ever forward.
I made some of my best friends through my sorority. It became a family and a home away from home while at college. I took full advantage of everything this group had to offer me. As they say, you must give much to receive much. I lived in the house after studying abroad and later with more sisters my senior year, I served in various leadership positions throughout the semesters, had the best family tree, worked hard at the annual Greek Week competition and of course partied with my sisters (not going to lie that college was a good time).
One of the things I especially loved about Tri Sigma was its philanthropy. Perhaps not well known is how much sororities do for different charities and groups across the country. The main theme of my group's work is "Sigma serves children." Besides funding scholarships and leadership opportunities for sisters, Tri Sigma's philanthropy arm works with play therapy for sick kids in hospitals throughout the country. Recently they have announced a partnership with the March of Dimes which in my opinion is absolutely wonderful. If you don't know, the March of Dimes now works with premature babies and research, something near and dear to my heart.
If you follow my blog then you know that my girls were born prematurely at 34 weeks and a few days. Going to the hospital the night they were born and knowing that they were going to come early was terrifying. When my water broke I started crying; I was scared because I knew that they would be small, under-developed, and would need to most likely spend time at the hospital. What was even more scary was not knowing if they would have serious and immediate problems and what those might be. I didn't know if their early arrival would be something that would affect their development over time (something we are still dealing with even now). I was lucky. My girls were born underweight but relatively healthy. Below I am going to post some pictures of the night they were born, some that I have not shared before because they break my heart. These are my girls at their most fragile, right when they were admitted into the NICU.
These are the images that Jose took while I was still recovering from my C-section. These pictures are the first that I got to see of my babies after only being able to glance at them during my surgery as I only saw them off to the side being weighed and measured before they were taken quickly away. These photos scare me even now as I see my twins with monitors, IVs, feeding tubes, so small, so new, even as my healthy and beautiful girls sit next to me while I write. These pictures remind me of why groups like the March of Dimes are important, are essential, are working for babies around the world, just like mine.
The March of Dimes is involved with research looking to discover the causes of premature birth as well as how to save preemies' lives through treatment of common complications and problems these babies face. It's important work being done to help the smallest and most indefensive among us. Being a preemie mom and a Tri Sigma alumna makes me proud of this new partnership between the two groups. I am excited to see what my sorority can do to contribute to this philanthropy that impacts so many lives. Ever forward.
Comments
Post a Comment