Crafting in Maine

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Did you know that today isn’t just Valentine’s Day? Yep. There’s a slew of other “holidays” today. One of them is National Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day. I wasn’t aware of this until my parents adopted kids. I have both a brother and sister who are effected by CHD. My brother, Bryton (he’ll be 16 this week), was born with Transportation of the Greater Arteries. He ultimately was in need of a heart transplant, and spent half of 2008 in Children’s Hospital Boston, waiting for his heart. He was lucky to receive his new heart on July 16 of 2008. Desiray (she’s 7) was born with a Congenital Heart Defect as well–though I can’t tell you the name of it because it’s so long and filled with medical jargon! All I know is that when she was just 6 days old, she was rushed to the Barbara Bush Unit at Maine Medical Center in Portland because of it. She was just 2 weeks old when she had her first open-heart surgery. She’s been doing great so far, and hasn’t needed any medication or other surgeries to help–yet. She is going to need another surgery to correct it again, soon. My family is just waiting until the doctor says it is time.

While my brother was in the hospital, he received many gifts–and loved everyone of them. Some of the most special though, were gifts of blankets-some that were made by people he’d never met. Some came from organizations that donate blankets to hospitals, some from previous patients, and some from hospital roommates that had been released. My mom “met” another heart mom (that’s what they call each other!) though a thing called CarePages (A blog-type site that is sponsored by hospitals for families to be able to connect and update each other without making a thousand phone calls. It’s awesome!), whose young son also received blankets while in the hospital. Her name is Stefanie. Stef decided in 2008 to give back to her local children’s hospital (in Iowa), and donate as many blankets to the children as she could. She got lots of help from people all over, and was able to donate 350 blankets her first year. Since its conception, Cuddles from the Heart as now donated over 2000 blankets to children in all over the United States. There are now 9 Coordinators, covering 12 states. How does this fit in with me? Well, my mom and I are coordinators for great state of Maine!

We will be collecting blankets for children in both Children’s Hospital Boston, as well as Maine Medical Center in Portland. You can e-mail us at our e-mail address we set up for this at CuddlesMaine@gmail.com for more information, and to learn how/where you can donate. We will be making our first donation in July, in honor of Bryton’s transplant and Desiray’s first surgery. We’re accepting donations of all sorts! They must be new, and can be either handmade (Yay!) or store bought.

• All sizes–from infant to teen
• Blankets can be knitted, crocheted, sewn, quilted, etc–and the kids love the no-sew fleece blankets!
• Receiving blankets
• Toddler/Throw blankets

My church in Vienna will be holding some blanket making  afternoons in February and March. If you’re in the area, and would like more information, please e-mail me! I’ll send you a bunch of information on times and dates! Have kids and no sitter? There’s a nursery and plenty of toys for little ones to play with! The more the merrier!

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