Chicago—Colleen and John Malay of Winfield, IL enjoy spending time with their son James Anthony Malay.  James loves noise, motion and laughter.  He is currently nine months old and weighs 15 lbs. 3 oz.  He is eating like a champ, rolls over and loves to laugh.  He is an active and healthy baby now, but was born premature.  That’s why the Malays have been named by the March of Dimes as the 2006 Ambassador Family for the Fox Valley site of WalkAmerica.

James Malay was born on April 26, 2005 at 24 weeks gestation at 14 inches long and weighing 1 lb and 14 oz.  Colleen’s pregnancy was an enjoyable experience for her.  “I felt great, ate everything in sight, and was just walking on a cloud every day,” she says.  On Friday April 22nd, Colleen was not feeling well.  She thought that she was just coming down with the flu because she had flu-like symptoms.  That day Colleen went to work and her boss told her that it would be best for her to go home and rest since she looked ill. 

The next morning, Colleen started getting severe cramps every 15 minutes.  Colleen and her husband John knew that something was not right so they called their doctor and went to Central DuPage Hospital.  The doctor informed her that she was dilated to four centimeters.  The doctor was able to stop her labor for almost three days and then James was born on Tuesday, April 26 at 3:59 a.m.   Colleen said, “We only got a quick glance of James before they took him away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which later became our home away from home.” 

The Malays visited James three times a day for 102 days.  James went through a series of complications including, blood transfusions, laser eye surgery, breathing treatments, and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), which is a heart condition that causes blood to divert away from the lungs.  Doctors informed Colleen and John that they were doing everything possible to medically keep him alive and that it was now up to James to fight to survive.  James was baptized in the hospital and he began making improvements.  Colleen and John said, “We are grateful to all of the NICU staff for all they have done for James—he is our little miracle.”

Registration for WalkAmerica will take place on Sunday, April 30th at 8:00 AM.  The kickoff for the event is at 9:00 AM in Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles, IL.  WalkAmerica is sponsored nationally by Kmart Corp., CIGNA, Famous Footwear, FedEx, and Farmers Insurance Group.  Local sponsors include Central DuPage Hospital, Farmers Insurance, Delnor Community Hospital, and TCF Bank.

There is no known cause for 50% of the babies who are born too soon.  That's why, in 2003, the March of Dimes launched a nationwide prematurity campaign to raise public awareness about the problem and help fund research and education to decrease the rate of preterm birth.

 WalkAmerica is the March of Dimes largest national fundraiser.  The funds raised will be used to help support research and education for the Prematurity Campaign.  There are six Walk sites in the Chicagoland areas.  For walk locations and to find out how to participate in WalkAmerica, please call the March of Dimes at 1-800-244-WALK or online at http://www.walkamerica.org/.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish language Web site at nacersano.org.