Barb and I participate in the March for Babies walk in Fort Worth, TX every year and 5% of net proceeds made at Ferocious Beard Company will be donated via our family team sponsorship to the March of Dimes. In July of 2008, Barb was pregnant with twins Julia and Noah Powell. We were expecting delivery on September 19, 2008. On July 21, 2008 during a routine, bi-weekly exam the doctor announced Julia's size. "Doing great! 4-10" (meaning she weighed 4lbs., 10 ozs.). Then he said "let's check the boy." After a few moments, the words tumbled out of his mouth that changed our lives forever: "I'm afraid I don't have good news today. I can't find the boy's heartbeat.".
On July 22, 2008, my son Noah was delivered stillborn at 3 lbs, 1 oz. while Julia was delivered at 32 weeks at 4 lbs, 11 oz. We held a moment of prayer in the Baylor Medical Center Chapel with two of Baylor's Chaplains and a Moses basket representing our son.
Julia spent the next 28 days weeks in NICU at Baylor Medical Center in Grapevine, TX. Twice during her stay, she was taken off of her feedings and treated for an intestinal infection with antibiotics. She was connected to heart and sleep monitors. She lived under a radiant warmer. She was secured in an isolette. Her diapers were weighed to ensure proper output. We were allowed to hold her for only 30 minutes at a time, every three hours.
The NICU was a place of roller-coaster emotions and some days we thought Julia wouldn't make it. Not a day went by we weren't praying to the universe for Julia's strength and survival. After Noah's death, I realized that we needed Julia to pull through to help us cope with the anguish of our loss as much as she needed us.
There will always be a birthday celebration missed, an empty chair at the dinner table, and a hole in our hearts. Christmas, Halloween, birthday celebrations will never be the way we always imagined they would be.
Yet there is immeasurable joy in our hearts. We see how Julia has thrived in the years since her birth. To look at her now, nobody would every imagine that this child was born 8 weeks premature. We've also been blessed with another daughter Sydney in 2009. We have absolutely no doubt in my mind that our Angel Noah had a hand in sending this miracle rainbow baby to our family. The girls mention their brother often, and he is still very much a part of our family.
In 2012, our family was recognized as the March of Dimes Fort Worth Signature Chef Ambassador Family, proving another opportunity for us to share our story in the hopes of raising funds for the March of Dimes research and education.
We have made it our personal promise to march every year in memory of Noah, in honor of Julia, and for the love of Sydney while remembering all babies who were born too soon. We continue to feel humbled by the fact that there was a time, years before we knew we needed them, that a group of people cared enough to raise money to fund the very research that kept our daughter alive and well.
Please, help us continue to fund the mission by direct contribution to the March for Babies.
Thank you for your support Brothers and Sisters!
-Nate Powell
FerociousBeard.com