March for Babies Atlanta 2011

March for Babies Atlanta 2011

This photo is taken by a photographer at the walk.  Check out more of his photos of the walk by clicking here.

Got back a couple of hours ago from the March for Babies walk in downtown Atlanta.  What a great time.  I got up at 5:30am and was ready when Kristy and Richard came to pick me up a little after 6:00am.  Still dark outside and a little chilly, we hopped in the car and took off.  We were apart of Team Dekalb County Government.  Kristy works for them, so that is how we became involved.  I don't recall having been to downtown Atlanta but maybe years ago for a concert and a Braves game in high school.  So I was enjoying the sites.  Kristy was kind enough to point all the buildings out to me and tell me what they were and where the main attractions were like the Georgia Aquarium, CNN, etc.  When we first got there we walked through Centennial Park.  I didn't know about the bricks that made up the walk ways with peoples names on them.  Apparently this was something that you could purchase years ago when they were building the walk ways.  There is a visitors/information center that you can go to in the park to look up someones name of a brick that you want to locate.  Pretty cool stuff.  So we got to the Georgia Convention Center (I believe it is called, correct me if I'm wrong) and across from it was the March for Babies set up.  There were several tents set up for each team.  Just to name a few there was our team, Dekalb County Government, Macy's, Kmart, Publix, AT&T, Suntrust, Bank of America, etc.  Radio stations such as Star 94 was there along with Channel 2 news.  There were several announcements in the beginning, then it was time for the walk.  There was a drum line there that kicked us off and led the beginning of the walk.  Check out my webpage or photos via Flickr to see pics and videos.  There were a lot of people there, over 1000 at least.  Our team had over 500 people and there were a lot more there than just us.  Getting started was crowded but we finally got going.  We walked 5.6 miles through downtown Atlanta.  It didn't really get too hot because we were not really directly in the sun very much and the wind was blowing a real nice breeze, so it wasn't so bad.  Speaking of the weather, it was absolutely beautiful!!  70's and breezy with abundant sunshine!  Couldn't ask for better walking weather.  Everything seemed to be very organized as well.  Police were out patrolling and monitoring the red lights for us.  EMC's were there riding their bikes right along with us in case of emergencies.  And, there were also "Poop out vans" in case you just couldn't make it any farther, they would take you back to the finish.  There were volunteers cheering you on as you walked by at certain checkpoints for water and port-a-potties were set up at checkpoints as well.  Once we finally finished our 5.6 miles and made it to that finish line, Publix provided some drinks, pretzels, cookies and hotdogs for everyone.  We got our food and found a nice place on the lawn up next to the stage and listened to the band and chilled out while we ate.  It was then time to go.  We had a wonderful time and a lot of money was raised for our babies!  What a wonderful cause!!!  If you want to donate to the March of Dimes and do not have anyone in particular to honor, you may visit Hailee's page here and donate to her preemie band.  Thanks to all our friends for your love and support.  If you have a story to share about your pregnancy (good or sad), we would love to hear from you.  Please comment below.  Also, if you are involved in a charity that you support, please share your information with us!  Thanks again for all your support! What a great day!