By Joo Lee, Producer, NBC News 

It's crazy. It's nonstop! I feel like it's a marathon." That's how Raechel Morrow, a mother of toddler twins and a newborn describes life as a stay-at-home mom. Sound familiar?

When we met Morrow and her adorable little trio one morning in late October, I had just finished drinking my first coffee of the day. Watching her play with her children, read, feed, hold, soothe, change and chase them... two hours later, even I wanted to take a nap! The caffeine in my cup was no match for their  boundless level of energy.

"It's really hard. That's the truth," Morrow said with a laugh.

"Everybody wants to pay attention to the baby but mom is the one who really needs the support, often times," Sara Binkley-Tow said.

Five years ago, Binkley-Tow founded a non-profit called Moms Bloom in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It's a program that provides free help for new moms. They conduct full background checks and offer training to their volunteers. It's not a babysitting service. It's about nurturing moms during the first few months of a newborn's arrival so they can nurture their children.

Binkley-Tow calls her group "the extended family for the 21st century."

Raechel Morrow's closest relatives live three hours away. Her husband works during the day. Moms Bloom connected Morrow with volunteer Becky Brink, a retired teacher who has two adult children of her own. Brink visits Morrow once or twice a week.

"I'm usually playing with the kids while mom gets the laundry done or takes a nap," Brink said.

Brink is not just an extra set of hands, she is also a supportive and listening ear.

"If the mom's not healthy and balanced, the mom can't take care of the family," Morrow said.

She says that having Brink there "means the world."

As I write this, I'm thinking of my sister, a mother of two small boys who lives 3,000 miles away. I wish there was a Moms Bloom in every town.

By Allison Flicker, NBC News

At the end of a football game, players are usually covered in mud, dirt and grass stains. A football coach, however, hopes to be covered in just one thing – Gatorade. 

The Gatorade shower is an iconic sports tradition on playing fields across the country. 

“Hey, forget the medals and the letter sweater,” Chicago Bears defensive lineman Dan Hampton said.  The “universal sign of achievement” is dunking the coach.

The tradition first started with Hampton and the 1984 Chicago Bears.

“When I dumped it on [Coach Mike] Ditka, you could see him fighting it off, and he had no idea,” Hampton said. “You have to remember, this was the first time that it had ever been attempted.”

Two years later, the New York Giants made the new practice a tradition. Their coach, Bill Parcells, was very superstitious, so as they continued to win, they continued to dump Gatorade on him.

“He knew it was coming from somewhere,” Giants linebacker Harry Carson said. “He just didn't know exactly where, or if I was going to be wearing my uniform, or somebody's coat, or somebody's hat, but he knew it was coming.”

Carson said the Gatorade shower isn’t to parade a win over the opposing team. 

“You know, doing it, wasn't so much about rubbing it into the face of our opponent,” Carson said. “It was a symbol of love and affection that we had for our coach.”

Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy soaked in tradition.

“I really wasn’t expecting it but it’s a good feeling to know that you’ve accomplished something that they players feel is worthy of pouring the bucket on you,” Dungy said.

When asked if he had ever tried to buck the tradition, Dungy said he hadn’t.

“No, not at all. Because you know once you get over that initial shock of being so cold you realize, ‘Hey, these guys believe we've done something special.’ The overall feeling that, wow, we've accomplished something unique,” Dungy said.

Miami Dolphins Coach Don Shula, however, was not such a fan.

“[It] didn't have a lot of class to it,” Shula said. “And I'd prefer to be carried off the field.”

Shula, though, knows the technique for a proper Gatorade shower.

“Somebody will come around to get the coach's attention and talk to them seriously about something that's going on the field,” Shula explained. “So now the coach has to give that player all of his attention. And then the Gatorade comes and dunks him.”

The Giants’ Carson said he made sure his coach had removed his headset before dousing him.

“What I wanted to do was get the Gatorade on his head, not on his neck,” Carson said. “I wanted to see it really splash down from the heavens from the top of his head, to cover the whole upper half of his torso.”

Almost three decades later, the Gatorade shower is a symbolic part of any athletic victory celebration – especially on the football field. 

“Somebody had to be the first one to put the star on top of the tree, right?” Hampton said.

So who will get the Gatorade shower at Super Bowl XLVII?

“I'm going to go out on a limb and say it’s going to be Coach Harbaugh,” Hampton said jokingly.

Carson did not offer a prediction but did offer some expert advice to the winning players and coach.

“If that coach is getting dumped, he should be thrilled and extremely happy that he is getting dumped because losers don't get dumped,” Carson said. “Just let that coach feel the exhilaration of winning.” 

By Erica Ayisi, NBC News

Adam McGouirk is 13 years old. He’s in the 8th grade and like many middle school students, he loves sports. 

Adam has been playing basketball and handball for a few years now, despite having spastic cerebral palsy. Spastic cerebral palsy affects Adam’s lower extremities impairs his movements, coordination and balance. His neurological condition makes it challenging for him to join his school’s sports teams -- but that will change next school year, as the Department of Education recently announced new guidelines for integrating students with disabilities into school sports. 

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated on his blog, “We make clear that schools may not exclude students who have an intellectual, developmental, physical, or any other disability from trying out and playing on a team, if they are otherwise qualified.” 

The guidance states that “the law does not require that a student with a disability be allowed to participate in any selective or competitive program offered by a school district, so long as the selection or competition criteria are not discriminatory.” 

Adam plays sports for a private league. Shooting hoops has made him stronger and could help him playing at school with his friends. 

“It would be a wonderful experience for schools,” Adam said. “They want to just play sports and be supportive.”  

Courtesy of the McGourick family

Since Adam started playing basketball for the Henry County Hurricanes, his upper body strength has increased immensely -- at times he’s able to get around with just a cane. His coach, Harlon Matthews, is in charge of wheel chair sports and he agrees. Matthews says Adam is making strides physically and socially. He says students like Adam just want equality. 

Coach Harlon would know – he too is in a wheelchair. 

Courtesy McGouirk family

Adam McGouirk plays basketball and handball.

“We don’t want anything above and we don’t want anything below,” Matthews said. “I don’t want anything extra-just help these kids be a part of something that’s very meaningful and impactful for their lives.” Questions remain, however: How much will it cost schools to integrate students with disabilities? Will this directive include students with both cognitive and physical disabilities? Nevertheless, students and parents are looking forward to the changes. 

Bryan McGouirk, Adam’s father, hopes this directive will give more voice to students with disabilities. “Some people seem to have the misunderstanding that kids with disabilities are going to be placed into some regular athletics and that’s not we’re looking for at all,” McGouirk. “We’re looking for a separate and defined program that our kids can compete in.” 

Kyle Miller hasn’t been around long enough to have much of his own history, but at 16, he’s deeply involved in the military history that others created.

When he was 12, Kyle, a Boy Scout, joined a group for World War II veterans. He was so fascinated by their stories that he became their archivist. Now he’s taken on an even bigger task to make certain their stories are around forever.

“At the beginning it would seem kind of strange to befriend somebody who’s three-quarters of a century older than me. But, when you really start talking to them, you realize they’re no different than you are,” he said.

Kyle’s great-grandfather fought in the Battle of the Bulge, a major German offensive in France, Luxembourg and Belgium during the winter of 1944-45. He died when Kyle was 4-years-old. Being around veterans, Kyle said, he gets to experience what his great-grandfather might have shared with him.

“I realized what heroes they truly are, how much they sacrificed for their families, their country and for people like me,” he said.

To honor them, this young man from Pickerington, Ohio got the idea to collect the stories of 1,000 veterans of World War II and post them on a website he designed with his father, who is also his Scout leader.

The project is called Voices from the Front. The project will also help him the attain the highest Boy Scout rank, Eagle Scout, which requires he demonstrate leadership while carrying out a community service project. He will also earn academic credit from his mother, who homeschools Kyle and his four siblings.

“There are a lot of books out there that have captured a lot of stories but there’s a lot we don’t have, so this project is to get and capture more of the stories before the veterans die,” Kyle said. “There are always stories out there that we’re missing.”

Among them, he said, stories about what was going on at home while the men were in battle.

“You can always read about the battle strategy, but you don’t get the real personal aspect of it,” he said. “From the wives and people at home, all the way to the support units, and then onto the combat units. We want to capture all those stories to hear all those perspectives.

With the help of volunteers, Kyle hopes to reach his goal of 1,000 voices by next fall. Meanwhile, Kyle has a new goal: To finish a book about veterans of the Battle of the Bulge.

CHICHIGALPA, Nicaragua – You won’t see a road sign pointing to “La Isla de Viudas,” or “The Island of Widows,” as it’s not the community’s official name. It’s a nickname born from a horrific body count. 

In the past 10 years, it’s believed that hundreds, if not thousands, of residents of Chichigalpa — mostly male sugarcane workers — have died from chronic kidney disease, or CKD. That in a city of nearly 60,000, roughly the size of Ames, Iowa. 

The mysterious and hidden epidemic, first highlighted by the Center for Public Integrity, has claimed thousands more lives across Central America. In El Salvador and Nicaragua alone, the number of men dying from the excruciatingly painful disease has risen five-fold in the last two decades. High rates of CKD also have been found in rural villages in India and among the rice paddies of Sri Lanka.

Sacorro Mendez Flores, who lives in the “La Isla” district of Chichigalpa, remembers when her son first fell ill. Jorge Luis Silva didn’t look sick at first, but inside he was dying. His kidneys struggled to filter waste from his body, to no avail. Five months ago, Flores buried him. 

“The same thing happened to my husband,” she said. “They both died the same.”

Sacorro Mendez-Flores, surrounded by her grandchildren, holds a family photo. The resident of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, lost both her son and husband to chronic kidney disease.

Researchers are searching for answers about why this disease is ravaging not only the bodies of its victims, but the communities they leave behind. 

The illness spreads
More than 20 million Americans aged 20 and older have chronic kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In developed countries like the U.S., CKD often goes hand in hand with obesity, diabetes and hypertension. With treatment, including dialysis and kidney transplants, many with the disease survive. 

The CKD plaguing parts of Central America, however, is something scientists have never seen before.

“It affects people who don't have diabetes or hypertension, which are the usual risk factors for chronic kidney disease,” said Sasha Chavkin, a CPI reporter who has covered the mysterious epidemic for several years. “No one can figure out what it is that's making all these people sick.”

Slideshow: Mysterious malady fells sugarcane workers

Estbean Felix / AP

Workers in Central American sugarcane fields are dying of chronic kidney disease at an astonishing rate and experts are unable to say why.

Launch slideshow

“It comes at great social, economic and humanitarian cost,” said Dr. Daniel R. Brooks, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Health who is leading a research team looking for the cause of the epidemic. “These are working-age people who are being struck down, and whole communities are really hurt and devastated by this disease.” 

And with little or no access to the life-saving treatments available in the developed world, a CKD diagnosis is often tantamount to a death sentence. 

Related stories

In Nicaraguan sugarcane community, workers stare death in the face

Chronic kidney disease: 'Silent killer' may have multiple triggers

“Where we stand right now is that ultimately this disease is not treatable in this community,” said Nate Raines, a researcher with the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine Global Health program, which is collaborating with two organizations in Nicaragua on research independent from the Boston University group. “What we need to do is find the cause. That's the only way to really help the health situation.” 

Many in Chichigalpa believe that the root of the disease lies in chemicals sprayed in the sugarcane fields while men are working, or seeping into the water supply. A spokesperson from the sugar industry says the chemicals used are standard fertilizer and are not used to excess.  

Science, so far, points to a more complicated answer. 

'Markers' of kidney damage found
The research team from the Boston University has linked the disease in Central America to strenuous labor, dehydration and environmental conditions in which chemicals may play a role. That theory was supported by the group’s most recent study, which found “markers” of kidney damage in adolescents as young as 12 in affected communities. 

Thousands of miles away, research in Sri Lanka’s affected communities also indicates chemicals may play a key role in the illness devastating communities there.

As reported last month by the Center for Public Integrity, the country’s health ministry and World Health Organization announced in June that a years-long study had identified chemicals thought to be an essential cause of the disease: cadmium and arsenic. Both are heavy metals found in fertilizers and pesticides that can cause an array of health effects, including the type of kidney damage ravaging communities in Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.

While most of those tested had lower levels of the toxic elements than officially designated as dangerous by the United Nations, researchers believe that long-term exposure, likely through the food chain, may explain the high incidence of CDK. 

The findings, due to be officially released in October, represent a potential breakthrough in the research about CDK worldwide, including the epidemic in Nicaragua. 

Researchers in Central America have not pinpointed a chemical cause. But the new research on adolescents indicates the kidneys of those going into the fields may already be damaged, making the long days and repeated dehydration in the fields potentially deadly. 

Some experts also suggest that sugarcane workers may also unwittingly be harming themselves as they struggle to stay hydrated while cutting up to 11 tons of cane a day by hand.

For a refreshing pick-me-up, they occasionally slice a stalk of cane, peeling back its “bark” and sticking it in their mouths, where it produces a sweet sugary liquid. 

But investigators now wonder: Could that constant flow of sucrose, combined with 90-plus degree temperatures and severe daily dehydration, be a deadly cocktail that slowly brings on CKD? 

“We believe high amounts of sugar solutions may not cause much kidney damage,” said Dr. Richard Johnson, head of the division of renal disease and hypertension at the University of Colorado, Denver. “But under certain circumstances, such as dehydration, we’re concerned the sugar may actually be toxic in causing damage to the kidneys.”

The sugar link
Whether or not sugar consumption plays a direct role in causing the Central American form of CKD, activists say it is a thread that connects the disease to its northern cousin.

In the U.S., rampant sugar consumption – Americans eat an average of 22.2 teaspoons of sugar per day according to the American Heart Association—drives many of the diseases linked to CKD, including diabetes and hypertension. 

And with recent steep increases in the price and demand for sugar, more people are working longer hours in the sugarcane fields of Central America. In 2011, the U.S. imported 330,000 metric tons of raw sugar from Central America, or nearly one-quarter of total raw sugar imports that year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

“Not only is the production of sugar killing people, but the consumption of it is killing people,” said Jason Glaser of La Isla Foundation, a nonprofit group he founded to focus attention on the epidemic and fund research that he hopes will solve the mystery. “It's bad for you and it's bad for workers.” 

The sugar industry, however, rejects suggestions that it is causing the epidemic of CKD among workers at its mills and plantations.

“We are not responsible for it,” said Mario Amador, a spokesman for the sugarcane industry. “We’re working to find a solution.”

He also blames the workers themselves, saying they drink too much alcohol. “It’s part of our culture,” Amador said. “It’s part of the things we do in our country. Poor people do it a lot.” 

Amador also speculated that active volcanoes in the region could have contaminated the water supply. But he admits he does not know why so many have died from CKD.

No matter what the research finds, Central America is unlikely to curb its cane production anytime soon. The world market for sugar is strong, and the industry receives direct help from abroad. 

The International Finance Corp., the private-sector arm of the World Bank, has provided loans of more than $100 million to promote production and biofuel in Nicaragua in recent years. Though the loans went to two plantations whose workers have been heavily affected by kidney disease, they were approved without formal consideration of the disease because the IFC did not find a link between the cane fields and CKD, according to the Associated Press. 

After workers complained about the loans, the IFC helped to negotiate an $800,000 donation to sponsor the ongoing Boston University study, the Center for Public Integrity reported. The money was provided by Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited, a major sugar producer in the west of the country, part of more than $4 million it has committed toward research and community development in recent years.

Waiting to die
But for many in Chichigalpa, the results of the research – whatever they may be – will come too late. 

Like most of the men in this community, Maximiliano Lopez, spent years in the fields cutting sugarcane. He began at 5 a.m., when the air was cool, and continued to work as the sun beat down, sometimes logging 14 hours a day. Then he was informed he had CKD.

Even after his diagnosis, which bans him from working in the fields or at the mill, the muscular 32-year-old said he used a friend’s identification to return to cutting cane. Nicaragua is the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, he explained, and many workers continue to work the harvest after being diagnosed with kidney disease because it is the only work they can find. 

“A lot of people do it out of necessity,” Lopez said. “They have a big family and they're the head of the household, so even if they're sick, you have to find work to support your family.” 

But, as Lopez and other cane workers eventually discovered, short-term survival may mean leaving behind the families that they labored so mightily to support.

“I began working there to earn a living and instead I earned death,” he said. “I’m just waiting for the day to come.” 

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