Dexter Parents to Join March for Babies on Sunday

Dexter resident Elise Hill is looking forward to the March for Babies, a March of Dimes fundraiser set for Sunday at , 8801 N. Territorial Rd. in Dexter.

About 3,000 participants are expected, with at least 81 family teams registered. Check-in will start at 9 a.m., and the walk will get under way at 10 a.m. along a three-mile paved loop. Dogs are welcome, on a leash, and doggie treats will be available.

Activities will include a rock wall, bounce houses, giveaways and food, and there will be four checkpoints offering drinks and games. There will also be several activity tents, including the family teams tent that will offer crafts, a chance to write "thank you" notes to neonatal unit staff and a special tree where people can fill out and attach notes celebrating their children.

One tent will offer a place for people to remember babies who have died. Families can write notes on balloons that will be released after a moment of silence during the opening ceremonies.

Hill, a social worker for the Monroe County Intermediate School District, moved to Dexter from Ann Arbor in November with her husband, Todd, a beer and wine salesman for Rave Associates in Ann Arbor, and their sons Carter, 5, and Coen, 2.

The couple has participated in the March for Babies fundraiser for the past seven years after their first son, Brody William, was born prematurely at 23 weeks in 2005.

“He lived for one hour before passing away,” Hill said. “After we lost Brody, I attended a pregnancy-loss support group and learned about the March of Dimes and their annual walk.

“We got involved the first year as a way to keep the memory of our son alive and as a way to work through our grief and the grief of our family and friends for us,” Hill said.

Carter was born seven weeks early, despite weekly progesterone injections to prevent preterm labor, and he was in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor for 28 days.

“Although the NICU was a very scary experience, we’re very thankful he has no long-term issues related to his premature birth,” Hill said.

Pregnant with triplets in 2007, Hill lost two of the babies at 12 weeks and prematurely delivered the third, Briley, at 18 weeks, who died at birth.

In 2008, with the help of modified bed rest, a leave of absence from work, weekly progesterone injections and the assistance of Dr. Cosmas Van de Ven, an obstetrician at the University of Michigan Hospital, son Coen arrived three days late, on Christmas morning.

“We now walk in memory of Brody and Briley, in honor of Carter and in celebration of Coen,” Hill said. “Our team grows every year, and we’ve raised over $4,000 every year with the help of family, friends and co-workers. The walk has become an annual event for our friends and family that everyone looks forward to, and as our boys get older we’re using it to teach them about their siblings they never met and about volunteer work and giving back to their community."

Jerry Cyr, park manager for Hudson Mills, Dexter, Delhi and Huron Meadows metroparks, said the March of Dimes is one of his favorite events.

“The folks that come out are always cheerful no matter what the weather brings,” he said. “Our entire staff has fun seeing the patrons pushing their strollers and walking with their pets as they head out for the walk."

For information on the walk, or to donate to the March of Dimes, call 734-761-6331 or visit www.marchforbabies.org.