Remember the miracle baby, Kaleb "Baby Buns?" He was the cute, little baby of Dana and Arkell Graves that was delivered nearly 4 months early. The baby announcement was filmed by wife, Dana, and quickly went viral on YouTube with over 10 million views.
Day two after delivering the Baby, they were told to hug the baby and say their goodbyes because little Kaleb wouldn't make it through the night. But God! Kaleb not only made it through the night, he continues to grace us with cute pics of his growth and strength every week.
Baby Buns has been an inspiration to literally hundreds of thousands of people who follow the Graves' family story on social media. The BlackDoctor.org family is also moved to see their story of faith, hope and love with every post.
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Now back at home after being at the hospital for nearly a year, Baby Buns has inspired the family to create a non-profit organization, Baby Buns For Life Network, to help other families of preemie babies.
On their website, "BabyBuns for Life was founded by the Graves’ family because they know and understand all too well the feeling of uncertainty that comes with premature birth. After 17 years of struggling with infertility and numerous miscarriages, they were finally expecting. Unfortunately, their son was born at only 23 weeks weighing only 13 oz. and was giving less than a 1% chance of survival. They spent 356 days in the NICU."
Their mission is to "educate, inspire and provide support to the families of premature babies. Every parent of children born prematurely will see their kids grow into health, happy boys and girls."
The organization has gotten off to a great start too! Their first event was held last month in December at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College of Virginia NICU.
"We provided more than 50 BabyBuns Blessing Bags to parents in the NICU, along with a hot meal, drinks and desserts for them to enjoy," reads their facebook page. "Most of our board members were in attendance at this event, as we talked with parents, family and staff. We have so much planned for 2017! Stay tuned for more details as to how you can help us in the future!"
According to the March of Dimes, an average of 10,056 babies a week were born prematurely in the United States—i.e., before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Of these preterm infants, 1,604 were very preterm (born before 32 weeks gestation); 6,511 had a low birth weight (2,500 grams or less) and 1,188 had a very low birth weight (1,500 grams or less). African American infants had the highest rates of preterm birth (18.1%), followed by Native Americans (13.8%), and Hispanics (12%).
BabyBuns For Life Network continued to help show love when they delivered handmade wreaths and snacks to a local nursing home for the Christmas holiday, have given donations to parents of not only much-needed materials and food, but monetary donations as well.
Others are taking notice of what Baby Buns For Life Network is doing too. On December 20, 2016, the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors honored the Graves family in recognition of the amount of faith and determination they have exhibited throughout the entire process of loving and leading in the community.
With a strong family, deeply rooted in love like the Graves, we are expecting even more from Baby Buns in the near future so stay tuned. For more on Baby Buns For Life Network, visit https://www.facebook.com/BabyBunsForLife/
