Chicago—Cindy and Chris Guerrero of Palatine, IL enjoy spending time with their sons Ryan and Joseph.  Ryan loves listening to music and taking swimming lessons while Joseph loves alphabet fridge magnets and having books read to him.  Currently, Ryan is six and a half years old and Joseph is two and a half.  The boys are happy and growing typically but both came from premature beginnings.  That’s why the Guerreros have been named the 2006 Ambassador Family for the North Suburban site of WalkAmerica.

 While Cindy was pregnant with Ryan, she suffered a premature rupture of membranes at 28 weeks and was hospitalized for two weeks until his delivery.  She was monitored 24 hours a day as doctors looked for any possible problems that would require an emergency delivery.  She underwent an amniocentesis to determine if the amniotic fluid was infected.  Fortunately for the Guerreros, the fluid was not infected.  Ryan was born by cesarean section at 2:40 a.m. on June 30, 1999.  He weighed 3lbs. 7ozs.  “We were so relieved to hear his first cry,” Cindy stated.  “I remember that we gave him a kiss before the nurse took him to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and hooked him up to the monitors,” she said.  They were amazed at how small he was when they saw him later that evening.  Cindy and Chris were overwhelmed to see all of the tubes and wires but they knew that he was in good hands.  He spent 48 days under the watchful eyes of the hospital staff and his parents until he was released to go home.  Cindy adds, “We spent many hours in the hospital and were fortunate that the staff of St. Alexius Medical Center was comforting during this stressful time—they made Chris and I feel like family.”

Joseph was also born by cesarean section.  Once again, Cindy experienced a premature rupture of membranes at 35 weeks at 7:00 a.m. on May 17, 2003 and Joseph was delivered at 9:59 a.m.  Joseph had jaundice, but after four days, he was able to go home with a bili-blanket.  Cindy and Chris were thrilled at the fact that he was so big for being five weeks early.  He weighed 6 lbs. 4 ozs. 

Ryan has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and has a seizure disorder.  He also has asthma and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease which is the abnormal backflow of stomach acid and juices into the esophagus.  Since birth, he has had a double eye surgery to correct strabismus, more commonly known as crossed-eyes.  Ryan attends special education classes and engages himself in hippotherapy which is a physical, occupational and speech therapy treatment strategy that utilizes horses’ movements. 

Cindy and Chris describe Joseph as the “little-big brother.”  Joseph has no delays as a result of being premature.  He is quite advanced in concepts that typical four and five year olds understand.

Cindy found the March of Dimes to be a great source of information for her pregnancies.  She would constantly refer to the March of Dimes website during every stage of her pregnancy to get up-to-date information on having a healthy baby.  With the blessings of many, the Guerreros are very fortunate for the successful health of their premature boys. 

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 Busse Woods.  WalkAmerica is sponsored nationally by Kmart Corp., CIGNA, Famous Footwear, FedEx, and Farmers Insurance Group.  Local sponsors include Howe Barnes Investments, Northwest Community Healthcare, and Planned Plumbing.         

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.

The funds raised from WalkAmerica 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.