Why You Should Rock N' Stroll For Mount Sinai Hospital

Are you ready to Rock N' Stroll?!

There are many fundraising walks across the city, but Rock N' Stroll in support of Mount Sinai Hospital is quite special—and near and dear to my heart. This unique event will bring families from across the GTA together to walk, stroll, dance, sing, and shop in support of this incredible hospital and its unparalleled treatment for high-risk pregnancies. I'm excited to take part in such an awesome event!

Even Kiss members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, David Bowie, Elton John and Slash are supporting this event by allowing the organization to use their likeness in their campaign! How cool is that?

In association with their tour promoters, LUG, Indigo, and Spin Master, you can expect:

  A 3 km family-friendly walk

  LUG Family Marketplace—featuring products and services geared toward parents and families.

  Live entertainment from my daughter's absolute favourite children's entertainers, Sonshine & Broccoli.

  Activities for the whole family

Approximately two-thirds of the 7,000 pregnancies Mount Sinai oversees each year are considered high-risk. That means that the mother or baby has increased risk of health problems. High-risk pregnancies can, and often do, end very well—but do require greater vigilance and monitoring throughout. Often special interventions and treatments are needed.

When I got pregnant with my first daughter, I didn’t know anything about prenatal healthcare. I didn’t know which hospital I’d want to deliver at or if I wanted an OB/GYN or a midwife. 

I could have been a midwife person. I could have been a home birth person. But, my thinking was this: I’m lucky enough to live in Toronto and have access to the hospital with Canada’s largest obstetrical and gynecological program; I have no idea how this pregnancy is going to go, no idea if I will need extra care, no idea what my labour will be like, and no idea what I’m doing when it comes to childbirth. And, with all of that in mind, I decided that if anything were to God-forbid go wrong, and even if everything went perfectly smoothly, I wanted the peace of mind that I was being cared for in a world-class hospital with exceptional doctors and nurses.

I was extremely fortunate to have a normal and relatively easy pregnancy. I looked forward to my OB appointments, and was always filled with questions about the strange and surreal changes my body was undergoing. I found it extremely reassuring that I was checked-up on and monitored regularly during my pregnancy. Being a bit of a hypochondriac, I felt confident that nothing would go unnoticed under the care of my OB and the amazing nurse who worked in her clinic.

Two weeks before my due date my contractions began. From the moment I arrived at triage with painful cramps at 7 a.m., to the moment my baby girl was born, just over eight hours later—I received nothing but amazing care and support from the nurses and doctors assigned to me. And my baby girl was lovingly and skillfully delivered into the world. 

I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

I know that I was extremely lucky.

So many women are supported and cared for by Mount Sinai Hospital through what might otherwise be a really scary experience. It is for all these moms and all these babies that my girls and I are going to join in on Sunday, September 28 to Rock N' Stroll at Earl Bales Park in support of Mount Sinai Hospital.

Join us! It will be a blast! With a Rock n' Roll theme, how can it not be fun for the whole family?

To find out more about this awesome event and to register your family/team visit www.rocknstroll.ca.

To learn more about the amazing work Mount Sinai is doing every day to support high risk pregnancies visit www.mountsinai.on.ca.

I'm making plans for September 28th and I hope you'll join me.