If you know me, you know I absolutely love what I do taking care of infants. So much so, that I have decided to check running the Boston Marathon off of my bucket list while fundraising for Boston Children's Hospital. I will be showing up to run 26.2 miles for the babies, their families, and my coworkers who motivate me to be stronger.

Although there is so much joy, I have had hard days as a nurse practitioner and previously bedside nurse in the NICU. Over the past few years, running has become my outlet. That being said, no shift compares to the hardship I have seen countless families overcome together in the NICU. I'm inspired by my patients and the resilience of their families. 

One patient in particular will be motivating me to cross the finish line. This is my patient partner, Luca. Luca was born premature at 26 weeks. After receiving care for four wonderful months at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Luca was transferred to the NICU at Boston Children's Hospital for management of his developing lung disease. As it turns out, Luca was diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, pulmonary hypertension, a cardiac defect known as an ASD and severe Pulmonary Vein Stenosis. In October of this year, Luca put on his brave face an underwent open heart surgery to repair his ASD and PVS. Unfortunately, he had a complicated post op transition and was cannulated to ECMO in the Cardiac ICU. Now off of ECMO, Luca is stabilizing and working on growing so that he can continue to develop healthy lungs. While he has found joy from so many things such as his many stuffed animals and daily visits from his family, Luca has had an incredibly tough road for being only six months old. The overwhelming amount of love his family gives him at his bedside every day is contagious, and they want nothing more than for him to leave the hospital and thrive. Luca has persevered for the last six months, and he will push me to persevere through 26.2 miles.

Every dollar I raise funds the very best medical care, breakthrough research and vital support services for sick kids and their families, like Luca's. Your gift will:

• Raise money for research to better understand and treat Pulmonary Vein Stenosis in fragile infants like Luca
• Support patient programs, like music and art therapy, to let kids be kids, even during long hospital stays
• Help families of hospitalized children with basic needs such as food, clothing and housing 
• Support Boston Children's Hospital's mission to provide as much joy to hospitalized children as possible such as receiving goodies around the holidays, visits from Santa, and local professional athletes 

Please support my fundraising and help the incredible kids and families at Boston Children's Hospital. Trust me, I have seen the life changing impacts these donations can make.