November 17 is World Prematurity Day, and Carrie Estabrooks is using her family’s experience to raise awareness for the 15 million babies born too soon each year.

Estabrooks’ two sons, 4-year-old Gavin and 2-year-old Cullen, were both born prematurely. Her family was chosen to be the March of Dimes’ ambassador family for the 2017 Mystic March for Babies.

“I hope our story will inspire others to look at seemingly ordinary moments in a new light and spur them to get involved in raising awareness for preemies themselves,” she said.

In an interview at their house in East Lyme, as the boys made pillow forts with couch cushions, Estabrooks said her pregnancy with Gavin was normal until about 31 weeks, when doctors found he was about three weeks behind in growth. Additional issues led her to go to Women & Infants Hospital in Providence the next week, when Gavin was born at two pounds and nine ounces. She said he was born healthy, just very small, but spending 40 days with him in the neonatal intensive care units at Women & Infants and later Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London was traumatic.

When Estabrooks was pregnant with Cullen, doctors started growth scans around 24 weeks to make sure he was at a healthy weight. They found that he was also three weeks behind. Because of the higher risks associated with “micropreemie” babies, she was on bedrest for 17 days in Hartford, and Cullen weighed 15 ounces when he was born. He spent 79 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, known as a NICU, in Hartford and 30 days at L+M.

Estabrooks said it was difficult to have to keep the boys away from family during the six-month “preemie lockdown” to build their immune systems, but overall it was a miracle, especially with Cullen’s initial prognosis. Being transferred to a local NICU was a huge help, and both boys were in the same room with the same nurses.

She continues to push for prematurity awareness by making gift bags for other parents of premature babies born at L+M, and she has spoken to employees at Macy’s for the company’s annual Shop for a Cause campaign to inspire them.

“Prematurity awareness is so important because having a preemie is not something you just get over,” she said. “It leaves the NICU with you, just as much as the IV scars.”

Laura Gervais, development manager for the March of Dimes, said Estabrooks’ team, the “Estabrooks All-Stars,” has raised more than $6,000 for the organization since 2012 through its annual Mystic March for Babies in May.

“She’s got quite a story and she’s just so supportive,” Gervais said.

She said ambassadors like Estabrooks give a local face to the work that March of Dimes does. The money raised goes toward research and programs to support families with premature babies .

Estabrooks praised the research funded by March of Dimes, which included the steroid shots that helped both boys with lung development. She said her family’s lives have been permanently impacted by prematurity, not only in the extra doctor’s appointments but also in the little victories.

“A tiny bite of a new food eaten or a new word said are cause for celebration in our home,” she said. “I sometimes look at my boys and am overwhelmed with pride at just how incredible they are.”

a.hutchinson@theday.com