Alamance County, North Carolina, February 06, 2013 —

The North Carolina Chapter of March of Dimes is proud to announce Christian Lane Marioles and the Marioles family of Alamance County as the 2013 Alamance County March for Babies Ambassador family. 

Amanda and Chris Marioles, high school sweethearts had no idea what was in store for them when they found out they were pregnant with their second child. Although Amanda experienced a healthy, full-term pregnancy with their two year old son Brayden, her journey with Christian proved to be more challenging.

At six months gestation, Amanda began experiencing complications. After bleeding for six weeks, contractions began and she was transported to Duke via ambulance. 

Christian Lane Marioles was born 28 weeks early on November 28, 2013 weighing only 2.14 pounds. He spent six weeks in the NICU at Duke before finally being transferred to the TCU. As of today, Christian is up to six pounds and is now home with his family.

Amanda said she always knew about March of Dimes and their research, but never thought she would directly be affected. She stated, “Nobody thinks they will have a premature baby until it happens to them.  My experience with having Christian at 28 weeks has been scary, but has also helped me understand what other families with premature babies go through.”

As Ambassadors, the Marioles family will speak at local and regional meetings, explaining how the March of Dimes has benefited them and encouraging others to join the cause. The March of Dimes walk is May 4 at the Historic Depot, Burlington, NC 27215. More information is available at marchforbabies.org.

“The reason we are walking is to not only honor Christian, but to thank March of Dimes for 75 years of research and ongoing support to families like us,” said Amanda. “Because of March of Dimes we can be hopeful for a future where there is no premature birth, birth defects or infant mortality.”