bummer about the first baby.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Human Milk Drive
stolen from Bethany's blog in order to get the word out:
Donors need to be prescreened through Mother's Milk Bank in Colorado (click here for info). They will send a packet with all the stuff to get screened. The milk is collected all over Portland (check out Northwest Mothers Milk Bank for collection sites). I'm actually helping the volunteers at St Vincent for this! Once the blood tests are done, pumped and frozen human milk is then taken and left with one of the donor areas here. They hospitals will then ship to Denver, where the milk is pasteurized and sent all over. Much of the milk from here is sent back. All the milk goes towards NICU babies. The moms usually don't have any of their own milk or colostrum yet, so the babes will get donated breast milk which encourages and promotes healthy growth much better than formula. (I do realize I'm preaching to the choir here.) I'm very pro-donation and love helping these guys out. The Fed Ex driver who picks up the boxes of donated milk feels very connected and is his favorite part of his day.
Even if your mamas can't be pre-screened in time for the milk drive on August 3, St Vincent's accepts donors every Tuesday. Kimberly Bepler is in charge of it here and her number is: 503.216.6455.
One story that is very touching and inspirational:
A mom recently lost her baby. She pumped for a while and had several ounces of colostrum that she donated to the bank. The bank was very excited as this is super and nothing they ever get donated. Yet, tinged with sadness as the reason was the loss of a sweet angel-baby. It breaks my heart to think of losing a baby, yet this mom thought of all the good she could do with what she had.
Thanks for passing this on. All those small and fragile angels hanging on in the NICU make me want to do what I can to help them.
If you are a nursing mom, then please seriously consider donating some of your milk to the babies who are unable to get any from their own mothers.
Friday, July 16, 2010
more june & july photos
Sometimes i forget that not everyone has facebook and sees the cutest photos that I upload. :) So, here they are:
this was one of the super hot days. I had Charlotte on our bed, because it's coolest in the bedrooms. (under the shade of two very large trees.) I was doing dishes and realized I couldn't hear Rowen any more. I looked in the livingroom and he wasn't there. So I walked back to his room, and he wasn't there either. Instead, I found him curled up with his baby sister on our bed. How sweet is that? I said "don't move Rowen, Momma has to get the camera!" hahaha
Here's our sweet Charlotte at 31 days old, with her friend Landon at 11 days old. Aww... hangin' out under the shade of an umbrella on a hot park day.
Rowen figured out how to check on his sister when she's in the pack & play: pull up a stool!
coloring with markers!
fun times on a giant mary-go-round.
fillin' up the pool at 8 am- never mind that it's cold and the water is freezing and he has clothes on. whatever- water is FUN!!
how he's been spending his outside time the past few days. Scooping, pouring, filling, emptying, and burying in the beans! Big time fun. I set up his little play tent in the back yard, and he loves that he can zip and unzip the door flap and hide away. I love that he's in the shade, and self occupied. win win!
how she spends her time... aw, sweetness.
snugglin' sissy again this morning.
my three loves!
July Resolutions- better late than never?
The Recap:
January - read through the bible in a year. Wow, yeah. so I'm a wee bit behind. Like, a month behind. I've resorted to listening to the old testament part of my reading (the biggest chunk each day) with a free website. Hey, then I can do the dishes while I'm "in the word." kind of. sad.
February - envelope system. back to business- june was and july has been soley a debit-card month. But I'm equipped with cash and determined to use it only for the rest of the month.
March - watch internet time. what's the internet?
April - walk whenever possible. Not a ton of walking going on, but I'm trying. Resolutions are hard. :(
May - stockpile the freezer. OAMC style. Happy to say, N/A! We've been SO blessed with meals from family, friends, and our church, that I've only cracked into maybe 10 of my 50 freezer meals. I'll be good for the rest of July. And perhaps most of August? I'm loving it so far, though. I'm totally doing it again once the frozen feasts run out!
June- have a healthy baby and try to stay sane- done! lol
This Month and Onward:
July- ban high fructose corn syrup from our house. I'd like to ban it from our lives, but sometimes you go out to eat and have no idea where it's hiding. I've been trying to do this to some extent all year, but it's time to really crack down. Of course, I'm far too frugal to throw out my giant bottle of heinz ketchup, but I'm certainly never buying it again (until they change their formula.) That's it. We will not fool our metabolisms with it anymore. I'm checking labels. It's one small step toward healthier eating!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Peas! (and other sunny weather photos)
Our sweet peas simply exploded over the last week. Rowen doesn't seem to mind eating his veggies a bit. At one point, I asked him to not pick any more peas. So, he just ate it straight off the vine. Ha! (and I thought slugs would be the problem!)
chomp!
Ooh, she's actually awake! 1st tummy time
To be honest, he's a little obsessed with Daddy's lawn mower. So, Mimi & Pappy got him his own "mo mo."
And- other bubble fun. Obviously, this jar of bubbles did not make it through the afternoon. neither did the outfit. :)
Other veggies Rowen eats: kale. He just doesn't know it because it's blended up into his kefir shake. muwahahaha. Check out that green mustache!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
A little lovin' from Ro Ro
he does love his baby sister!
A few days back, Rowen was playing in his "ball pit" in the back yard. I came over to find this scene:
Roro got to play with Jada for one of our hospital days. He loves his Jada. He's been talking about her non-stop ever since. Love it!
Another "caught in action" moment. Can you tell what he's doing?
changing his baby's diaper! I've been changing him on the floor by his changing table. (right here.) What a sweet little goofball.
During our photo shoot with Kristi, Rowen was pretty much a wreck. To keep him happy, (er, TRY to keep him from throwing a complete tantrum,) we gave him a snack of kidney beans. (one of his favorites. And, not too messy.) What does he do? Dumps them out and sorts them. Whatever!
Charlotte's Birth Story
Monday morning came along and felt just like a typical Saturday, waking up next to Matt.
I got up to eat breakfast before my 8 hour pre-surgery fast, and Matt and Rowen got up when they were ready & well-rested. We packed up a few last minute things, put our hospital bags in the car, and went for a walk with Rowen for the first time in weeks. I think the sun came out just for Charlotte's birthday. Rowen was very pleased to take his toy stroller and baby doll for a walk for the first time. It was a little weird to think that this was
our last little outing as a family of three. Around lunch time, Matt's dad came over to play with Rowen. I imediatly got teary (but hid it!) at the thought of not spending every minute with my son for the next several days. Rowen was happy to read books with Pappy and scarcely noticed Momma & Daddy leaving!
As we drove to the hospital, we talked about how strange it was that everything felt so normal. like, "well, here we go, off to the hospital to have a baby. Maybe we'll hit the grocery store next." ha!We talked about how it could have been the "scheduled" aspect of it- no surprises here. Or perhaps that we still didn't have a name, so we hadn't been talking "to" her for 4 months like we had been with Rowen. I think for me at least it may have been that there were still so many unknowns. I couldn't get my hopes up on exactly how it was going to turn out, since there were so many more risks with the surgery this time around. I had a total peace, no anxiety or fear- but didn't feel like I could envision the same experience we had 20 months ago. I was just clinging to the certain hope that God had our best interests at heart, and that we were covered in prayer. I wasn't set on any particular outcome, just knowing that His outcome was best. So I was just patiently waiting to see what it was. The morning continued with these peaceful, uneventful feelings. Charlotte was having a party in her womb, and I kept thinking & kind of chuckling, "oh girl, you have no idea what you're in for next!" Surreal. We checked in, I got all hooked up, and by 2:00 we were wheeling down to the O.R. Then the fun begins.I wasn't as nervous for the epidural this time, in fact I wasn't even really ready for it. It just happened. Then they helped me lay down, and I got super light headed. I mentioned that the room was a bit fuzzy, and that I might throw up. Then everyone started freaking out. (in a very professional "everything is going to be fine" sort of way.) I started diving further and further underwater and heard TV-show lines like "crash cart" and "don't code on me, Brianne" and "I can't find the baby's heart beat" and "we need some help in here" and I just thought "whoooooo- I feel sooooo loopy. If I felt normal, I'd probably be very worried right now. But, my doctor's great. She'll take care of it." Talk about the Lord's covering, even at this point I had no anxiety. They were asking me questions, propped me up on my side a bit, there was warm air blowing in my face, everything sounded like I was under water, and at some point Matt came in the room. It was then that I started coming back. Thankfully :) Apparently, lying down squished all the epidural drugs up to my brain or something and made my blood pressure drop too quickly, but they gave me something to counteract it. Or something :)Then I noticed all the tugging and pulling and weird pressure sensations from being cut open and having a human taken out of you! Which is kind of fun, really. :) I'm glad you're not completely numb for a c-section, I like feeling part of it! They pulled her out and you could feel the relief in the room as she made her grand debut. She looked great :) Then it was waiting around to see how I would do for the rest of the surgery.
She scored an 8 and then a 9 on her APGAR, which I think is pretty stinkin' great for a preemie! I heard the tiniest little cries as they checked her out and then handed her to Matt to hold up to my face. Oh, that sweet baby smell!
Those several minutes that I had her there were so sweet. Such a tiny little thing, all wrapped up. She calmed down as I started talking to her, giving her a tiny bit of familiar in the bright, cold world she just entered.
My OB happily mentioned that my placenta "fell right off" and that everything was going splendidly. I got a couple bags of pitocin to help with the contractions, and the surgery was complete in under an hour. Praise the Lord :)
The first couple of hours in recovery are my favorite :) Tiny little fresh baby on your chest-
it doesn't get better that that. She nursed almost immediately, what an answer to prayer. I was overwhelmed with the Lord's favor to us. Our "big prayers" were answered- that Charlotte wouldn't need to spend any time in the NICU and I wouldn't need to spend any time in the ICU. But then every little whispered prayer about things that aren't so important... they were important to the Lord. I knew the whole day that we were blanketed in a thick quilt of prayer, (I love our church family) but I never dreamed of being blessed in all the ways we were. From the important, to the almost silly. She was able to nurse. We got a big room & tons of visitors to fill it. She slept. and slept. Our nurses were fabulous.
The fold-out couch for Matt was more comfortable than last time. We were able to avoid supplementing with formula, even though it's hospital policy at 36 weeks. My milk came in before we left and she started putting weight back on. I felt worlds better than last time. Rowen had a blast & was well cared for by family & friends. I could go on & on. The following days in the hospital are a blur, and I know the next several months will be too.
But I'm looking forward to them with my liitle family of four.
Thank you, Lord, for the fullness of Your love.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Welcome to the world
Today at 2:42pm, we welcomed little baby girl Happel into the world. All 5lb 6oz and 18 inches of her. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. The Lord's covering was definitely felt and momma and baby are doing great. Here is a link to some pics. Stay tuned for more pictures and hopefully soon a name!
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