The First Annual Blogger Baby Shower for a Cause with Baby’s First Test!

This past weekend I was in NYC for BlogHer, the huge annual blogging conference for women (and some men!). It was my third year attending and this year I was lucky enough to be sponsored by an amazing organization, Baby’s First Test. They promote and raise awareness of newborn screenings. This is something near and dear to my heart and I was thrilled to be promoting them and their mission along side my wonderful friend Kristine of Cora’s Story.

While in NYC, Kristine and I hosted a Blogger Baby Shower! Our main goal was to raise awareness of newborn screenings and share the resources that can be found at the Baby’s First Test website. We also wanted to connect with other bloggers and showcase our amazing Shower sponsors! It would not have been possible without ALL OF YOU. So thank you so, so, so much.

On to the party!

It was wonderful! I really think it was a huge success. It was decorated like a baby shower and we even had CUPCAKES and water bottles with cute BFT labels (you rock, Kristine!). We had baby shower gift bags filled with awesome stuff and tons of door prizes.

 In no particular order:
Baby’s First Test
Earth Mama Angel Baby
Leading Lady
Beyond Bedding
Contours Baby
DiaperShops.com
EcoSprout
Hot Mama Gowns
Mixed Bag Designs
Tiny Love
Vitafusion
Novena
Warm Milk
Sugar Sweet Baby
Babee Covee
WeeUrban

We had the best party hosts–and I don’t mean me. Natasha was there from Baby’s First Test (upper left photo), Kristine is very knowledgeable on newborn screenings and is pretty much an expert on pulse ox (bottom left), and my baby girl Rebecca was our very own pulse ox model (bottom right, if you couldn’t tell ;)).

We had about 30 very targeted women attend–they were either pregnant, trying to conceive, or had a newborn. As they walked in the door, they were greeted by Natasha and Kristine to chat about Baby’s First Test, newborn screenings, and pulse ox. Then they made their way to the back of the room where I was able to chat with them about the sponsors and the prizes, showcase products, and take some video about what they learned. We gave away some door prizes during the party and others were drawn later from business cards.

We also couldn’t have done it without some help from other great bloggers. Nikki was there taking photos, Allie was there helping with Rebecca so I could mingle, and Christa, Beth, and Becca helped organize. We love you!

If you attended the party… thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to come chat with us about something so important. We hope you spread the love and share your new knowledge of newborn screenings and Baby’s First Test! You can also show your love to the other sponsors–give them a shout out (here are all of their twitter and facebook pages)! If you won a prize, you’ll be hearing from me shortly, and all attendees will receive a follow-up and survey. Thank you, mamas, and take care of those babies! <3

If you sponsored the party… thank you for participating in a wonderful cause and helping us save lives. You all helped make the event a huge success and we love each and every one of you!

Next year? We’re already planning the second annual Blogger Baby Shower for a Cause! It will be at the end of July in CHICAGO! HEYYY! Contact me if you’d like more information (erdickey at gmail dot com)

~Watch for my upcoming post about my own newborn screening experience–did you know it’s all still possible after a homebirth? Just takes a little bit of awareness!