March of Dimes Celebrating 75th Anniversary

Casey Morgan and her family know firsthand the importance of the March of Dimes.

This year marks the 75^th anniversary of March of Dimes.

Morgan's son, TJ, was born about five weeks early in November 2008.

“I had developed a few health issues, so the doctors thought it would be best to go ahead and induce me,” Morgan said. We had been expecting a little girl – I had a little boy. He was quite a surprise.”

TJ's debut wasn't an easy one.

“When he was born, he wasn't breathing on his own,” Morgan said. “He required CPR and they took him to the Level 2 nursery at Palmetto. He was born at 5:32 in the afternoon. By nine o'clock that night, before I'd ever gotten to even hold him, Greenville NICU ambulance came to pick him up. I spent the first night at the hospital without him.”

The infant spent the next 18 days in the NICU.

“He was a lot different that a lot of the babies you see there,” Morgan said. “You expect the severely premature babies – he looked like a giant compared to the rest of them. He was 6 pounds when he was born.”

She said some people think that the March of Dimes only helps severely premature babies.

“Well, I had almost a full-term baby,” Morgan said. “It's not just about being premature. March of Dimes helps people in lots of different areas. It's not just the 26-week babies – that's the main thing they do, which I think is absolutely wonderful, - but they look at birth defects, they look at prenatal care for mothers, they push education, they do a lot of research.”

TJ was born with very low muscle tone.

“He couldn't suck a bottle, he didn't move very much,” Morgan said. “He was one of those cases where you don't really know what happened.”

Until March of Dimes arrived, “We were lost,” she said.

“We weren't expecting to be there,” Morgan said. “We thought we were having a normal healthy baby and going home in a couple of days. That's what we thought – but that's not what we got.”

Two March of Dimes representatives came to see the family, bringing with them a premature onesie.

“Because we were expecting a little girl, we didn't have any clothes for him – everything was pink,” Morgan said. “So the March of Dimes gave him his very first blue outfit.”

March of Dimes brings with them wonderful resources, Morgan said.

“Great papers telling you what the different equipment is, what it's for,” she said. “Because you find yourself thrust into this place and it's bells and whistles, and it's kind of noisy and it's very intimidating.”

They offered gifts for siblings to help them deal with the situation.

“They gave TJ a March of Dimes Beanie Baby, which he still has and loves,” Morgan said. “They gave him a book that I could read to him at his bedside, which I still read to him today. And that was nice, just to have somebody come up there and give you a hug. It's a scary place to be, especially when you don't think it will ever happen to you. They were really great.”

TJ received many different diagnoses – at one point, the family was told he wouldn't live to see his first birthday.

TJ is now four.

Her family's team, TJ Trotter's, has participated in the March of Dimes since 2010.

“I've had friends who've had premature babies, twins, a classmate just lost her nephew, he was born with some birth defects, he passed away recently at two months of age,” Morgan said. “We as a team, we've been fortunate with TJ. He's okay – it doesn't always work that way. There's a lot of people out there who need months of support. We had the little neighbors, as we called them, in NICU who had been there 3-4 months. That's why we like to give back, because we've been so blessed. March of Dimes gave support to us, and for us it was very traumatic, but there's people out there who go through something so much worse. To be able to help and to fund the research that maybe one day will prevent things like this from happening, and to give people education on prenatal care, so that the most preventable can be prevented, that means a lot.”

This year's March of Dimes March for Babies is slated for April 27. Registration begins around 8:30am. The 6-mile walk will begin in Old Market Square.

“TJ loves the walk,” Morgan said. “He had just started taking steps not long before the first walk. It's six miles, we strolled him through most of it. He held his daddy's hand and my hand and he walked across the finish line, which was pretty nice. To me, it was kind of symbolic. He's always made it across that finish line.”

Their first year, TJ's Trotters hope to raise $200.

We ended up raising about $900,” Morgan said. “We quadrupled our goal.”

In 2011, Morgan promised that if the team doubled their $1,000, she would dye her hair blue.

“We almost quadrupled it,” Morgan said. “I had almost 40 royal blue extensions in my hair.”

Teams are beginning their fundraising efforts. A kickoff luncheon for teams will be held 12-1pm February 5 at Fatz Cafe in Easley. Teams will learn the theme of this year's March for Babies.

“We're all there to help each other,” Morgan said. “It's a great atmosphere.”

At the meeting, TJ will receive an award for being one of the top fundraisers.

“The last two years, he was the top youth fundraiser for Pickens County,” Morgan said. “We're going to shoot for that again this year.”

TJ's Trotters has several fundraisers coming up in the next few weeks.

On February 19, the Powdersville Zaxby's will host a fundraiser for TJ's Trotters. From 5-8pm, Zaxby's will donate 10 percent of all sales to March of Dimes.

On February 26, Skate Around USA in Easley will host a fundraiser from 6-8pm.

“$3 admission and they're giving us half of all admission from 6-8pm,” Morgan said.

Visit marchforbabies.org to join TJ Trotters.

“We love having new people walk,” Morgan said. “If they don't want to walk, they can always donate to our page or to a team of their choice.”

Follow the group on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TJs-Trotters/113855682002606?ref=ts&fref=ts