So.....it's been a while. Sorry.
I have been having a ball with my Lenten "sacrifice". There have been days when we have not left the house so those days I didn't get to RAK anything/one. I am not stressing about it as Lent isn't about me stressing out, it's about focusing on being more Christ-like. I'm sure Jesus didn't stress out if he didn't perform a miracle every single day, right?
I've done pretty well, despite our homebound days. Here's the list to date. I even left blank the days that we were not able to fulfill our obligation.
Feb 29- out closing day on our old house. We put a case of beer in the fridge along with a congratulations note to the new home owners. They emailed to thank us for the welcome!
March 1- I helped a lady carry in some of her items for a consignment sale.
March 2- I brought about 7 of Jillian's hats to a neighbor who just had a baby girl and posted a plea on FB asking for any old hats to use for photos.
March 3- Nothing today.
March 4- We welcomed the soldiers home today! What a GREAT way to start the week!!
March 5- We put individual servings of popcorn in snack size ziploc bags and included our RAK note. Then we taped them onto the Red Box machine outside the grocery store.
March 6- We went to the DMV as well as two different laundromats to drop off books. Children's as well as novels for the adults (not the x-rated kind).
March 7- Welcomed hubby home with a stay-at-home-date. We had FUN!
March 8- I had to drop off something for a lady in my playgroup and she had just had her second baby so I stopped at the store and grabbed some Biscoff cookies for her to enjoy.
March 9- Another lady in my playgroup is pregnant with her second and we went to lunch. She asked me where I found maternity clothes to fit my small frame and I told her to come by and take all my clothes away....and she did!!
March 10- Nothing.
March 11- served the refugee meal after Mass
March 12- Held a BUNCO night at my house with the proceeds going to my pre-eclampsia walk instead of a winning pot.
March 13- We did a Meals on Wheels delivery. It was awesome!
March 14- Hosted a playgroup at my home to make cards of appreciation to be sent to the troops overseas.
March 15- Signed up to bring a new mom a meal in my neighborhood.
March 16- Took my two nephews to the mall for a while so my MIL could rest.
March 17- Funneled charity information from my friend in the know to a friend who was wanting some information.
March 18- Attended a baby shower for a relative even though our schedule was totally hectic and we prepared them to think we were not going to be able to make it. It's a HAUL out there!
March 19- Made cookies for our new neighbors.
March 20- Nothing today.
March 21- Did another Meals on Wheels delivery. FUN!
March 22- Nothing today.
March 23- Gave the AT&T repairman a homemade cupcake and some juice as a thank you.
March 24-Nothing today.
March 25- Nothing today.
March 26- Had cooking camp for Dominic this week and gave the babysitters dinner and dessert as a special thanks!
March 27- Donated 24 filled eggs to fill refugee Easter baskets.
March 28- Donated to the Leukemia foundation.
March 29- Picked up Gammy and Gampy at the airport and made a large Welcome Home sign and gave Gammy a dozen tulips!
March 30- Organized a Couple's Date Night and had an awesome time.
March 31- Took a walk with Dominic this afternoon and stopped at a neighbor's home to let them know that their house is Dominic's favorite house in the hood. They were pleased as punch!
April 1- Donated TONS of bottles to the White Rose Center.
April 2- Gave a $5 donation to MS at the Toys R Us checkout counter.
April 3- Put $2 in quarters in snack size baggies along with the RAK notes and taped them to the Spiderman ride at the grocery store.
April 4- Had a prolonged conversation with Carol, a lady at the dollar store who admired my kiddos. A great-grandma herself, she wanted to talk about her own family and her life as a teacher and momma. She was reminiscing and while I would usually rush off before either kid could have a melt-down, I stayed and talked with her. Surprisingly, no melt-downs!
Wow! That's a LONG list!! Easter is this Sunday but I have a few days to make up for so I'll continue for about another week.
I'll have to post about cooking camp another time. Let's just say that the attention span was hit or miss for this theme! HA!
Showing posts with label pre-eclampsia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pre-eclampsia. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Thursday, April 28, 2011
As we get closer to EDD...
As I get closer to my EDD I am reminded of everything that could go wrong in these last few weeks. I belong to an online community of ladies who are/have been trying to conceive. I joined in April 2006 when my husband and I first started trying to conceive a baby. Little did I know I would have to wait another 22 months before actually getting pregnant.
You can imagine my great joy, then, when we actually DID get pregnant. In true first time mom fashion, I never really gave a second thought to complications or miscarriages. I was naive in a most wonderful way. Don't they say ignorance is bliss?
You may have noticed my new blog button to the right. Read on to hear why the pre-e foundation is so important to me.
One of the ladies who was on the board with me was Heidi. She was from another state, but to an online community distance doesn't matter. She was with me through my TTC journey b/c she was also on her own. She got pregnant a few months after me and we were overjoyed to experience our pregnancies together. There were 5 of us who were due within 3 months of each other so much of our talk was related to the daily happenings of pregnancy and getting ready to become mothers together. We were a tight little group.
Heidi mentioned that she was not feeling well and went to the doctor, who put her on bedrest. Since her computer was downstairs and her bed is upstairs she mentioned that she would not be able to post like she had been. We all understood, but as her EDD drew near and we didn't hear from her we began to wonder. What was Heidi up to? Had the baby come already? Was she still waiting to deliver? Was everything okay?
No one had her last name or specific information to contact her and as the days went by we began to outright worry that something had happened to the baby. Our worst nightmare and no one wanted to mention it. We sent private messages and got no reply. Perhaps she just needed time to digest whatever had happened to her little girl?
Finally we got our answer. Heidi's husband was going through Heidi's emails one afternoon and came across the pm's. He sent one of the ladies an email asking her to contact him, which she did. Here is what she told us:
"Unfortunately I have some terrible news. And I write this with an extremely heavy heart barely being able to see through my tears while to the screen. I got an email from Heidi's husband, asking me to call him. I just got off the phone with him.
Their daughter Abigail was born on November 7th, she's beautiful and healthy. She is now 11 pounds.
The bad news is that due to the preeclampsia Heidi developed Hellp syndrome. she was helicoptered to another hospital after the baby was born.
Heidi's liver and kidney shut down. She was on dialysis as well as lifesupport. Heidi didn't make it. She passed away on December 7th. She was 34. I could hear Abigail crying in the background and Heidi's MIL has been staying with him helping with the baby. We talked for a while and he talked about Heidi with great love as well as his daughter. He had no idea about Heidi's life on our board.
I told him she was very loved and a huge supporter to many of us.
He did tell me Heidi did meet her daughter and got to kiss and hold her."
This was in 2008. Just re-reading this makes me teary-eyed. We were all in shock! We'd never heard of pre-e or HELLP syndrome and didn't realize how prevalent the condition truly is. That summer on Facebook I found that the pre-e foundation has a page. I "liked" them and that led me to find a local chapter in my city. You may remember that I walked in the pre-e walk last May. I did a post about it.
This year I will be 36 weeks pg for the walk. I am so sorry to have to miss the walk, but it's hard enough getting in and out of the car, let alone walking a mile these days!
If you would like to make a donation please check out the following website:
http://www.blueskycollaborative.com/pfpw/fundevent.asp?nnaffundid=16
And while you're there, check out who's on the first slide in the slideshow!!
With Mother's Day just around the corner I find myself thinking of Heidi more and more. I am sad that she never got to hear her sweet daughter call her "Mommy". It's truly heartbreaking.
Love to all my mommy friends!!
You can imagine my great joy, then, when we actually DID get pregnant. In true first time mom fashion, I never really gave a second thought to complications or miscarriages. I was naive in a most wonderful way. Don't they say ignorance is bliss?
You may have noticed my new blog button to the right. Read on to hear why the pre-e foundation is so important to me.
One of the ladies who was on the board with me was Heidi. She was from another state, but to an online community distance doesn't matter. She was with me through my TTC journey b/c she was also on her own. She got pregnant a few months after me and we were overjoyed to experience our pregnancies together. There were 5 of us who were due within 3 months of each other so much of our talk was related to the daily happenings of pregnancy and getting ready to become mothers together. We were a tight little group.
Heidi mentioned that she was not feeling well and went to the doctor, who put her on bedrest. Since her computer was downstairs and her bed is upstairs she mentioned that she would not be able to post like she had been. We all understood, but as her EDD drew near and we didn't hear from her we began to wonder. What was Heidi up to? Had the baby come already? Was she still waiting to deliver? Was everything okay?
No one had her last name or specific information to contact her and as the days went by we began to outright worry that something had happened to the baby. Our worst nightmare and no one wanted to mention it. We sent private messages and got no reply. Perhaps she just needed time to digest whatever had happened to her little girl?
Finally we got our answer. Heidi's husband was going through Heidi's emails one afternoon and came across the pm's. He sent one of the ladies an email asking her to contact him, which she did. Here is what she told us:
"Unfortunately I have some terrible news. And I write this with an extremely heavy heart barely being able to see through my tears while to the screen. I got an email from Heidi's husband, asking me to call him. I just got off the phone with him.
Their daughter Abigail was born on November 7th, she's beautiful and healthy. She is now 11 pounds.
The bad news is that due to the preeclampsia Heidi developed Hellp syndrome. she was helicoptered to another hospital after the baby was born.
Heidi's liver and kidney shut down. She was on dialysis as well as lifesupport. Heidi didn't make it. She passed away on December 7th. She was 34. I could hear Abigail crying in the background and Heidi's MIL has been staying with him helping with the baby. We talked for a while and he talked about Heidi with great love as well as his daughter. He had no idea about Heidi's life on our board.
I told him she was very loved and a huge supporter to many of us.
He did tell me Heidi did meet her daughter and got to kiss and hold her."
This was in 2008. Just re-reading this makes me teary-eyed. We were all in shock! We'd never heard of pre-e or HELLP syndrome and didn't realize how prevalent the condition truly is. That summer on Facebook I found that the pre-e foundation has a page. I "liked" them and that led me to find a local chapter in my city. You may remember that I walked in the pre-e walk last May. I did a post about it.
This year I will be 36 weeks pg for the walk. I am so sorry to have to miss the walk, but it's hard enough getting in and out of the car, let alone walking a mile these days!
If you would like to make a donation please check out the following website:
http://www.blueskycollaborative.com/pfpw/fundevent.asp?nnaffundid=16
And while you're there, check out who's on the first slide in the slideshow!!
With Mother's Day just around the corner I find myself thinking of Heidi more and more. I am sad that she never got to hear her sweet daughter call her "Mommy". It's truly heartbreaking.
Love to all my mommy friends!!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Happy Mother's Day Walk
This Mother's Day weekend I signed up for a walk to benefit the Pre-eclampsia Foundation. An online friend passed away in December of 2008 from HELPP syndrome, caused by complications of pre-e.
When I saw the walk being advertised in my neighborhood group's newsletter I jumped at the chance to participate. I am reminded of Heidi daily as I spend time with my son. Heidi and I were due two months apart and she died one month after her daughter, Abigail, was born. I think of them every night when I am rocking with Dominic and we are saying our night time prayers. It hurts my heart to think that she is not able to enjoy such precious moments with her daughter.
We made the thirty minute drive out and were informed that I was the #2 individual team to be participating, donation-wise! What a wonderful surprise! It was a perfect day for a walk. A little breezy, but sunny and warm. We walked 1.5 miles all around the town square, which was a quaint walk. Dominic fell asleep about a mile in.
We left after talking with the coordinators a bit-both of the ladies had lost little ones to pre-e. We went to a restaurant right on the lake and had lunch outside. After lunch we took a walk down by the water and watched the boats go by and called out to the duckies. A wonderful way to spend the day: doing something heart-healthy, spending time with my husband and son and enjoying all that God has created.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. We are going to brunch with my IL's after church and will give her the framed photo of D as her gift.
Happy Mother's Day to anyone reading!!!
When I saw the walk being advertised in my neighborhood group's newsletter I jumped at the chance to participate. I am reminded of Heidi daily as I spend time with my son. Heidi and I were due two months apart and she died one month after her daughter, Abigail, was born. I think of them every night when I am rocking with Dominic and we are saying our night time prayers. It hurts my heart to think that she is not able to enjoy such precious moments with her daughter.
We made the thirty minute drive out and were informed that I was the #2 individual team to be participating, donation-wise! What a wonderful surprise! It was a perfect day for a walk. A little breezy, but sunny and warm. We walked 1.5 miles all around the town square, which was a quaint walk. Dominic fell asleep about a mile in.
We left after talking with the coordinators a bit-both of the ladies had lost little ones to pre-e. We went to a restaurant right on the lake and had lunch outside. After lunch we took a walk down by the water and watched the boats go by and called out to the duckies. A wonderful way to spend the day: doing something heart-healthy, spending time with my husband and son and enjoying all that God has created.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. We are going to brunch with my IL's after church and will give her the framed photo of D as her gift.
Happy Mother's Day to anyone reading!!!
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