Melanie and Kyle Scruggs, of Cullen, were so excited to become parents. They were looking forward to starting their family that they both had dreamed about for so long.

At 23 weeks, Melanie learned that her precious little girl was not growing. 

She was now running four weeks behind and only measuring 19 weeks. After visiting with her OB and prenatal specialist every other day for the next few weeks she was placed on bed rest at 28 weeks.

Aug. 24, 2012, Melanie received the surfactant shot that the March of Dimes helped to create. 

This shot helped develop Sydney’s lungs even before she was born. She then learned on Sept. 4, 2012, that her baby was not catching up and would be delivered soon.

She delivered Sydney at only 32 weeks (measuring only 28 weeks), 8 weeks early. She weighed 2 pounds, 13.5 ounces.  Sydney spent 27 days in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) of the hospital before going home for the first time. Today, Sydney is a vibrant 3-year-old child, and is still small, but healthy. 

She was blessed with having no issues from being born premature. The Scruggs family is serving as the 2016 March for Babies Ambassador Family to help raise awareness about the lifesaving research and support of the March of Dimes. They are dedicated to making sure other parents don’t have to experience the same trauma/problems for their baby or feel the fear and anxiety that they felt.

The Scruggses credit the March of Dimes with helping their child survive by funding research and other programs for premature babies/sick babies.

They want to ask other families to join them in supporting March for Babies.