It was a bittersweet 1st mommy’s day for me . . . had a nice lunch at my parent’s house this afternoon with the whole family. The day was full of memories of our sweet Logan and wishes for things that might have been if Logan were still with us. This was not at all how I envisioned my first mother’s day to be . . . in my mind, I imagined that Lance would get Logan from his crib & bring him into our room so that Logan could wake me up with hugs & sweet kisses. I imagined that we would spend the morning, snuggling in bed together before getting ready to go to lunch. I never imagined that I would be giving “good morning” kisses to the smooth wood of Logan’s urn, rather than his soft cheeks & tiny lips. I miss him.
March for Babies 2009 was a success!!! Walk day turned out to be a beautiful day – we were a little worried since there was a flash flood warning just days before.
Kim and I would like to thank everyone for all your support. Together, Team Logan pushed past our goal and raised $6,294 for the March of Dimes!!! Hopefully, our contributions will get them closer to their goal… “one day… all babies will be born healthy.”
If you still have donations to turn in, you can mail them to the March of Dimes Hawaii Chapter:
Today is April 27th . . . it’s been 9 months since Logan left us. It was a rough day for me at school today. At first, I blamed it on my students . . . some of them were acting like little monsters today. But then I realized that I was just in a crappy mood.Â
This past weekend was a difficult one for us. As most of you know, we participated in the March for Babies walk on Saturday. Team Logan had just under 50 walkers & raised a staggering $6300 for the March of Dimes!! GO TEAM LOGAN!! It was a beautiful day for a walk . . . nice weather, great company. Of course, Logan was on our minds the entire day, both in happy & sad ways. We could feel his strength & his love, but we could also feel the huge hole in our hearts . . . the hole that’s been there since Logan left us.
On Sunday, we went to a baby shower for our good friends. They’re expecting a boy in May & we couldn’t be happier for them! The shower was nice, but again, a little difficult. Seeing their beautiful nursery was hard . . . couldn’t help but think about the nursery that we never got to decorate for Logan. Watching them open their gifts was hard too . . . couldn’t help but think how we wouldn’t be needing any of those things for Logan.
But, as always, we put on a brave face & made it through the weekend. I think I might have been okay, if 9 months hadn’t hit us today. Just before typing this, I sat in our living room, crying my eyes out as I watched the beautiful slide show that Cheri created for us. I’m overwhelmed with waaay too many memories of Logan . . . I miss him.
We just wanted to give everyone an update on how things are going and remind you that it’s not too late to sign up or make a pledge.
Team Logan is doing well… we have just under 50 people walking and as a team have raised $3,868 for the March of Dimes!!! Thank you to everyone who made a pledge. We still have a few more days… keep those pledges coming.
If you haven’t had a chance to sign up for the walk (http://tinyurl.com/dyjwm3) or enter a pledge ( http://marchforbabies.org/shinsato), please do. The March of Dimes is an amazing organization with such an extremely important goal… “one day… all babies will be born healthy”
For all those that are thinking of pledging, but haven’t made up their minds yet, here’s some additional incentive… Farmers is providing matching donations!!! For all those that enter a pledge between now and walk day, please be sure to fill in the match amount and put “Farmers” as the matching company.
Thank you for all your love and support. We’re truly amazed at the impact Logan has made – and continues to make!
A friend of mine created a beautiful slideshow for Logan’s Celebration of Life. I only just got around to putting it online for those who couldn’t make it to the Celebration of Life.
Through Logan, Kim and I learned what an amazing organization the March of Dimes really is.
The March of Dimes is having its annual March for Babies event across the country.
There are two ways you can help: join our team and walk with us OR sponsor me and I’ll walk for you.
Please join our March for Babies Family Team ‘Logan… Forever Loved‘.  We’re walking in memory of our son Logan who passed away on July 27, 2008. Logan was with us for eight short weeks, but in that time he touched our hearts and showed us what it means to be strong and brave. To honor Logan’s birth and short life, we invite you to join our team and raise funds to help March of Dimes efforts to give every baby a healthy start. To join us, visit marchforbabies.org/teams/659237 and sign up today or contact Lance Shinsato at shinsato@gmail.com to get more information!
If you can’t make the walk, but would still like to sponsor me – so I can walk for you – please visit my March for Babies page marchforbabies.org/shinsato and enter your pledge.
Here’s the information for the March for Babies on Oahu:
April 25, 2009
Registration Time: 7:00AM
Start Time: 7:30 AM
Kapiolani Park
2750 Monsarrat Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815
Walk Distance: 5 miles
March of Dimes – Hawaii Chapter Phone #: (808) 973-2155
To find out about a March for Babies in your area, please visit marchforbabies.org.
With your support, there’s hope! Premature birth and birth defects take a tremendous emotional and physical toll on babies and their families. You can help by joining our Family Team at March for Babies to walk and raise funds for March of Dimes research and programs to help moms have full-term pregnancies and healthy babies.
Received this update from the March of Dimes… If you or someone you know is expecting, it is highly encourage that you learn more about newborn screening. In Hawaii, it is state law that every newborn baby be tested for 32 different disorders…
We have some very good news to share: After nine years of intensive advocacy efforts, nearly every baby born in this country now lives in a state that requires screening for most of the 29 serious but treatable disorders recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics.
This is a remarkable public health advance essentially eliminating state-by-state screening gaps. And it was made possible by people like you — the volunteers, donors and staff of the March of Dimes — working in tandem with our partners and state officials. The clear beneficiaries are babies and their families.
Recently, TIME Magazine, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times Health Blog, San Francisco Chronicle, Health Day, Health News Digest, MedPage Today, CNN Radio and several NBC-affiliate stations shared this story following the release of our Newborn Screening Report Card.
Newborn screening involves a simple blood test taken before the baby is discharged from the hospital and is done to detect certain rare disorders before any symptoms begin. If diagnosed early, these disorders can be successfully managed or treated to prevent death, disability or other severe consequences such as mental retardation.
If you or someone you know is expecting, I encourage you to learn more about newborn screening.
Even while we are celebrating, we are continuing to work hard on this issue. Please join us either by signing up as an eAdvocate to help secure federal funding for the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act (Public Law 110-204) or by working with your March of Dimes Chapter on this topic.
Together we are touching—and improving — the lives of our nation’s babies and families.
Irwin and Beamer were best buddies and Irwin was able to release a lot of his energy on Beamer. Now that Beamer is not with us any more, Irwin has a lot of pent up energy… more than I can burn off by playing or running with him. That’s why I bought a bike. Along with my bike, I also bought a leash attachment that has a spring in it so when Irwin pulls he doesn’t pull me over.
It’s taken a little while to just get him used to the bike. What’s even funnier is that we also had to get him used to seeing me with a helmet on. He REALLY did not like that.
After I got Irwin used to the bike (and helmet) it was time to leave the backyard. I wanted to start off easy – like you’re supposed to do with any exercise program, so we stayed close to home.
Now that Irwin and I are getting used to the run, we’ve started to venture further into the neighborhood.
In the last month, the Uesugi family has been flocking to Facebook…Â At last count, I think ten people from the family have joined.
It’s turning out to be a great way for the family to keep in touch… easy for the mainland cousins to get the scoops on what’s happening here. What’s funny is that it’s turning out to be a way for the family to keep in touch on-island too. Even though most of the family lives on the same island, it’s just so easy for them to check up on each other through FB.
How cool would it be to get all the cousins on FB? Or at least one representative from each family – I don’t think that Hugh will ever get Jen to join.Â
Yesterday made 6 months since Logan left us . . . we just can’t believe we’ve managed to survive 6 months without our precious baby. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that we were sitting with Logan in the NSCU . . . other days, it feels like a lifetime since we last patted his back, or rubbed his forehead, or sang him a song.
Every day is a struggle for us . . . every morning we have to convince ourselves to get out of bed, put on a brave face, & face the world without Logan. We have our pretty good days, and we have our really bad days . . . mostly, we have “blah” days. Every time we see something or do something that makes us smile or laugh, it’s always tinged with sadness when we think that Logan isn’t here to experience it with us.   We kind of feel like we’re only half the people that we used to be . . . the other half of ourselves went along with Logan on his next journey. I think a part of us with always be with Logan . . . we’ll never be the same people we were before Logan came into our lives.
These past 8 months have, without a doubt, been the most difficult of our entire lives . . . but throughout all of the worrying, pain, & sorrow we’ve learned that we are definitely stronger than we ever thought we could be. Giving Logan back to Aunty Pam on his last day with us was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. Walking out of the NSCU that day, knowing that we would never see our baby alive again, was nearly an impossible feat. I remember thinking that we would never be able to survive without him . . . and yet, here we are, 6 months later.
We would give anything to change what happened, or to bring him back, but we know that can’t ever happen. Things aren’t getting any easier, and I don’t think it ever really will . . . I think we’re just slowly starting to learn how to adjust to our new “normal”. We were excitedly preparing for our new “normal” to revolve around taking care of & loving Logan . . . now, we have to accept that our “normal” is loving & missing Logan.
WE LOVE YOU LOGAN!! YOU WILL BE IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER!!
