Zionsville family hopes to raise $10k for preemies

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The Weaver family is working alongside March of Dimes in honor of their four premature children. (Submitted photo)
The Weaver family is working alongside March of Dimes in honor of their four premature children. (Submitted photo)

By Sophie Pappas

For LoraLee Weaver, pregnancy never came easy. And, when she speaks of her children today, she will tell you she is the mother of nine.

But only four of those are alive today.

“In my mind, I’ve had nine babies, even if five didn’t survive,” she said.

Weaver and her family, who live in Zionsville, are hoping to raise a minimum of $10,000 by May 10, in time for the Indianapolis March of Dimes’ March for Babies.

All of Weaver’s four living children were born prematurely. Her oldest, twin boys named Jack and Andrew, were born at 28 weeks gestation, nearly three months too early. Her youngest two, Elijah and Julia, were also premature but not so severely.

The twins, born in 2004, suffered from Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Twin Transfusion Syndrome is a complication of the blood supply between identical twins sharing a single placenta.

Weaver began going into labor shortly into her second trimester, at which point doctors told her she was expected to deliver soon. She was able to stay on bed rest and reach 28 weeks.

Following the birth of the twins, they spent more than two months in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Vincent Hospital. It was here that Weaver learned of March of Dimes and their mission to help educate the mothers of premature infants.

“I had always heard of [March of Dimes] but never had any idea what they did with premature babies and premature research,” Weaver said.

What she learned was that March of Dimes helps expecting women and their doctors every day learn how to extend pregnancies to a healthy time. Often this means doing extensive research on the developmental setbacks of the premature infant.

Now that Weaver’s boys are 10 years old, healthy and thriving, she and her husband, along with their younger children, want to give back to the people who supported them through their twins’ journey.

“The boys are doing very well,” Weaver said. “They had a slow start in life for sure, but now they are great. And this is our way to say thank you. We just want to raise money for more research.”

Over the past 10 years, the Weavers have raised more than $35,000 for the March of Dimes, but have never raised $10,000 in one year. They have raised more than $3,000 so far for this year’s march.

“Needless to say, our passion for this very important cause has only increased in the 10 years since we first benefited from March of Dimes,” Weaver said.

To support the Weavers and the March of Dimes, visit www.marchforbabies.org/lkweaver.


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