I cried when I saw the video tonight, it's so beautifully done. Thanks so much to all the families who participated by sending in their baby's photo.

To view the commercial, visit www.parents.tv and you'll see a big video area, just to the right of that you'll find a listing of videos you can choose to watch. Scroll through the list, and not quite half way down you'll see one titled "SIDS Awareness". Just click to view it.

Some of you may remember recent requests for interviews from a couple of reporters from Scripps Newspapers. Lee Bowman phoned me recently to let me know everything was nearly ready and this morning I received an email from him with the link for the website containing the information he and others have been working on for quite some time. I haven't read every article, but from what I've seen they've done a wonderful job. In the opening video that plays I recognized several names and babies in photos.

From Lee's email:

"We'd really appreciate people using the forum section for suggestions on how investigations and research can be done better, etc. Most of the stories appeared in our papers in Memphis, Denver, Los Angeles, Florida and elswhere on Sunday. The package goes out to the rest of our newspaper clients around the country and world this morning."

The email was sent to me yesterday, but it was our Thanksgiving so I wasn't on to receive it until this morning. You can find their work posted at savingbabies.net or savingbabies.info, he said that either link points to the presentation available at Scrippsnews.com.

Thanks to all those who shared to help make these articles possible. I just hope the people who can make changes in how SIDS deaths are handled, are paying attention and that they take action so that infant deaths are handled better in the future.

SIDS mom Susan Honaker had asked me to put something on the site to let everyone know about the photo engraving she does. If anyone's interested in having a photo engraved for either a necklace or a keychain, you can just click on the related link below. Please remember to direct your questions to Susan, I wouldn't be able to answer them for you as this is her project.

I submitted requests to both Comcast and Verizon to have sidsfamilies.com removed from their block list and both have removed it, so all mail from sidsfamilies.com should now go through without a problem. This means that folks who had been subscribed to the mailings lists with email addresses from either of those domains can now join again and actually receive the mail!

YAY!

I've put up a bunch of polls in the hopes of getting a big picture of what's typical of a SIDS death for families. I'm writing to a local newspaper to comment on an article they ran recently involving SIDS and I was hoping to have some statistics from all of you to back up the comments I intend to make to them. A lot of the questions are centered on the standard risk factors generally attributed to contribute to a SIDS death. If you could take a few minutes and answer each poll I would really appreciate it. It's all anonymous, you can even leave a comment anonymously if needed (but you can leave your name and include your email address if desired). Thanks!


•Please indicate your baby's sleep environment when he or she died.

•Please indicate what position your baby was placed in when they were put to bed before they died. (Not necessarily the same position they were found in.)

•Please indicate what position your baby was found in when he or she had died.

•Please indicate your SIDS baby's gender

•Please indicate your SIDS baby's age when he or she died.

•Please indate which month your child died in.

•Please indate which season was it where you lived when your child died?

•Please indicate how your SIDS baby was fed in terms of breastmilk or formula.

•Please indicate if your SIDS baby had received the recommended vaccinations, on schedule according to the standard vaccination schedule where you live.

•Please indicate the role tobacco use had in your SIDS baby's environment.

•Please indicate your SIDS baby's gestation at birth

•During pregnancy, did the baby's mother smoke cigarettes?

•Please indicate the age of the parents caring for the baby who died. (May answer more than once, please answer for each parent).

•Please indicate generally what time of day your SIDS baby died.

•Please indicate your baby's weight at birth.

•Please indicate what number child your SIDS baby was in the family.

•Please indicate what your baby's APGAR score was at birth.

•Please indicate if your SIDS baby experienced any of these prior to death.

•Please indicate your baby's pacifier use.

I added a couple of questions to the FAQ on SIDS on the site.

My baby had blood coming from the nose, what does that mean?
Can the event of SIDS occur if the child is awake?

Hopefully the answers will be helpful to others.

I finally got all the links entered in after the names in the list of twins and triplets on the forum. The list has been there for some time now, but not the nursery page links after the names. There are currently 90 nusery pages listed for babies who were a twin or a triplet. If anyone knows of a baby's nursery page that I missed let me know please. I didn't have the twin/triplet question on the form for the nursery additions when I first started the site and so there may be entries shown incorrectly as a singleton.

Just click Related Link below to visit the forum.

This was posted earlier this month the message board and I thought it may interest some of you...

Hello, my name is Carrie and first I want to say that my most sincere condolences go out to everyone who is grieving.

I have started a completely free service by which I send sympathy cards and a packet of flower seeds to those who are grieving. The idea is that the seeds can be planted as a beautiful and loving memory of the departed to hopefully bring a little peace and comfort to those who are grieving.

I started this project to honor my son Pax who was stillborn in October of 2005. I am hoping to reach any and everyone who is in need of some grief support.

So if you know someone who is grieving and would like me to send them a card and seed packet, please contact me or fill out the simple request form at www.petalsforpax.org You can also read my story, see the sympathy card and pictures of the flowers there as well. I also have a myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/petalsforpax

Please feel free to pass this information along to anyone you think may be interested.

There is no catch. I am simply doing this as an ongoing Act of Kindness to honor my son and to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Peace, Love & Light
Pax vobiscum~Peace be with you...
~Carrie

I just wanted to let you all know about a book I was recently made aware of called "I Miss Matthew". For more information or to buy the book you can visit author Judy Heath's website here.

From the website:

"I Miss Matthew" is designed to be shared by the grieving child and a caring adult to facilitate communication between the two. Sharing the pages together can lead to verbalization of what is going on in a busy little mind, and allows the hurting child to express his or her feelings. The book also offers subtle suggestions on how to help the child through the loss, and displays some behaviors which are unique to children's grief.