Dead Ink Vinyl

My daughter turned one year old today. She is crawling and cruising, exploring and learning, smiling and laughing — a happy baby on the cusp of her toddler years. You would not know to look at her that she was born six weeks premature, that she entered the world at just 4lbs 13oz, and that she spent 11 days in the neonatal intensive care unit. Our family has been very fortunate to have exceptional doctors and medical facilities, to have loving and supportive family and friends, to have great health care coverage, to have access to prenatal education and information about prematurity, and to have a daughter who is a tenacious fighter.

We are very fortunate, but we know that our story didn’t have to turn out so well. For many newborns, premature birth is just the beginning of a long struggle for survival, where every breath is a small victory. For many families, a premature birth is an incredible and lasting emotional and financial hardship.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

The March of Dimes is working to ensure that one day all babies will be born healthy. After successfully supporting the development of two vaccines against polio in the 1950s, the March of Dimes refocused its charitable infrastructure to serve mothers and babies with a new mission: to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. The organization accomplishes this with programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy, along with the annual March for Babies.

My daughter’s first birthday was made possible by research funded by the March of Dimes. Help me in supporting the March of Dimes during this year’s March for Babies so that more children can see their first birthdays. Donate any amount by visiting http://www.marchforbabies.org/dlkinney0603 or clicking on the March for Babies badge to the right (if you are viewing this on my web site).

Best regards,
David

The very first article I ever read from Seth Godin was The world is actually not flat, it’s sort of lumpy. In it, Seth drives home the point that viewing customer interaction as a cost to be controlled rather than an opportunity to build a relationship is self-defeating (emphasis added):

…reducing the cost of an interaction with a consumer isn’t usually the point. The real win is when a service person does the difficult work of solving problems and the essential work of connecting with people as individuals… every single interaction is an opportunity to do marketing, not a chance to cut costs.

I was reminded of this insight when I read his April 9th article asking Who Answers the Phone? In the article, Seth notes:

The new rules mean that the most valuable marketing event is almost always an inbound phone call.

The day after I read Seth’s article, my wife picked our baby’s pediatrician based—in part—on the conversation she had with the lady who answered the phone at the doctor’s office.

We had expected to have another month to visit doctors’ offices, interview candidates, and mull over our decision, but my wife’s preeclampsia forced us to abbreviate our process. While in the hospital, my wife sought after and received several recommendations, including asking the nurses about the pediatricians they use for their children. Those recommendations became our short list for picking a doctor. My wife made her time in the hospital extra-productive by calling the doctors on the list. She was so impressed by the lady who answered the phone for the first doctor that my wife decided she didn’t need to search any farther—we had our pediatrician!

As luck would have it, while we were in the elevator on our way to visit our baby yesterday we bumped into the doctor my wife selected. We stole a few minutes of his time to introduce ourselves and talk to him about our child. He impressed us both with his personality, composure, willingness to spend some time talking to us despite clearly being on his way somewhere else, and by his asking all the right questions about our baby’s progress.

My wife took the opportunity to tell him that it was the excellent conversation she’d had with one of his office staff that made picking his practice an easy choice. He was grateful for that feedback, and we were grateful for the opportunity to speak with him.

The real win is when a service person does the difficult work of solving problems and the essential work of connecting with people as individuals.

Perfectly said.

What a difference a day makes! When I wrote my last entry, the plan was to try carrying the baby to 36 weeks before delivery. The next morning the remaining test results came back, confirming the diagnosis of preeclampsia. My wife’s blood pressure is high enough that the doctors are now planning to induce labor when she reaches 34 weeks—on Monday.

I am running around throwing things into order throughout the house. That list of essentials from two days ago has been scaled back even further. And I have to add: thank heavens for Amazon Prime shipping! Fortunately, we’ve already attended most the parent-to-be training classes and we got an early start on the nursery so all of the furniture is in place. I have some tasks on my list to make the nursery ready for use, but it’s already mostly there.

I’m getting the infant car seat installed later today. Then there is a lot of cleaning and rearranging of furniture to be done.

My parents will be stopping by on Saturday to help me around the house. I will be leveraging my mother’s experience to help me sort through our already-significant collection of baby clothes and identify which clothes are for now and which are for later. (I’m told that the size labels aren’t the full story.)