Tiffiney Tuesday

My Tiffiney Tuesday this month is really extra special.. Because I am going to preview two pictures from Timothy's photo shoot with Santa!! I loved the Santa and Timothy did too! :) The rest are on her website, so you can check them out there! :) Have a great Tuesday!!

This one is def. one of my favs!

I love his little smile in this one!! :)

Our Thanksgiving! Better Late Than Never...

Before my crazy photo Montage of Thanksgiving 2010. Let me give you a little background on our holiday!


Wednesday, Heather and I made our Turkeys! They turned out too cute! I loved them! I also made sweet potato soufflé and pumpkin bread. Then I cooked dinner! I mean , how on it am I?

Thursday, we had to be at Brandon’s grandparents house by noon, so we got up and enjoyed some of the morning to ourselves. We then headed over there for round one! We had a great time and I will have to post some pictures from that side of family tomorrow!

Thursday afternoon, we picked up the pups from our house and headed to my parents to eat again and spend the night! We had such a great time! And I took lots of pictures with my mom’s camera. We ate lots of yummy foods! Even Timothy tried real mashed potatoes! We had a big full day and Timothy was exhausted from all the fun we had!

Friday, Brandon and my dad went and played their annual golf game. And mom, Timothy and I went to Lieu’s for our annual day after Thanksgiving lunch! Of course it was amazing, but Timothy was a little fussy, which had me worried for dinner Friday night, since we were going out to eat with Christian and Stephanie. But he was great at dinner he actually sat in the big boy highchair! And then fell asleep in my lap, halfway through dinner. But he was a good boy!

Saturday, we took Timothy to Brandon’s parents house for to spend the afternoon/night with them. We went to the Palmetto State Rivalry! And we lost. Which, I am a loyal Tiger fan, but fully anticipated a loss. They had a better team and record this year. I would of loved for us to win, but every good 40 year record must come to end! We had a fantastic time at the game regardless of the outcome. I learned a long time ago that a bunch of 18-22 year old boys aren’t going to ruin a Saturday for me!!

Sunday, I never got out of my pajamas! And that is a good day! Brandon went and got Timothy around lunch time and the three of us hung out as a family the rest of the day. The only work we did that day was take down our fall stuff. I am stickler to not putting any Christmas stuff up until after Thanksgiving, so I always end up working my butt off to get everything up the week after. But It’s worth it.

Yesterday, was nutso crazo at work. We have deadlines and reports due, so I have been inundated with a ton of work, not to mention all the work that I had to catch up on from last Monday and Tuesday.

Today I will also be married to my desk! Trying to get all the reports and phone calls completed! Anyway, here is the picture explosion of Thanksgiving 2010...Enjoy!!

Yummy!!

Timothy's Turkey Feet :)

He loves bouncing in this thing

Timothy's seat at the table

Decor

Brandon and Dad (and Romeo in the background)

I made the salads

Mom made two soups that were awesome!

Pumpkin Bread I made!

Sweet Potato Souffle

With Aunt Sonya at Granny's

Spending time with PapaCobus

Getting love from Grandmere

Yummy!!

The surgeon doing his thing! :)

Timothy watching PapaCobus cut that turkey

How cute is he?

Loving daddy..

At the dinner table

With the silver spoon..ready for some mashed taters!



Family Portrait!



What's Happening?!?

I will forgo all the gross nitty gritty details of my stomach bug, because I have already grossed out my bff Heth with the details, and my parents and hubby. I think I met my quota! Let's just say, my husband asked me how loose my clothes were today, and how much weight I thought I had lost since Sunday! Terrible, terrible, terrible!!

Saturday, as planned, we went and had Timothy's pictures made. Tiffiney did an amazing job as usual, and I am {not} so patiently waiting for her post them for us to review.. :) I will let y'all know when they are up, because they will be too cute, not to show off!!

Sunday, the bug started, and my life came to violent halt until this afternoon. When I finally could eat more than saltine cracker and ginger ale! The thing that really stunk about being sick, I couldn't be around Timothy. I stayed in the guest room and he went to the inlaws to ensure he and Brandon didn't get sick. Tough time for mommy! But my father in-law sent me these to make me feel better!! :)

While he is still too cute,  I am sure you ladies can see I did not dress him for the last two days! ha!

This afternoon I finally got my sea legs back, so to say! So, I made a trip to BiLo to get everything for my sweet potato soufflés on Thursday. I figure I had a better chance of getting in and out today, than tomorrow, when most people are off work. I got everything but the sweet potatoes because they didn't have the kind I wanted. So I asked BTB to go by the grocery stores near his work, to see if they did. He brought me home 7 bags! I only needed 5! But having the extra won't hurt anything! And I got to hold Timothy tonight, first time since Saturday! I was so pumped!

This cute little guy I got at the grocery store today! :)

Tomorrow, Heth and I are doing a fun little project with Timothy for Thanksgiving! I am so excited about it! With her being a kindergarten teacher she is always coming up with fun ideas, and this one will be great! I will be sure to post pics!! Then, we are going to lunch before she heads to the big "D" Dillon that is, for Thanksgiving with her family.

Sorry for my absence, but hope y'all understand! And feels good to be back to the land of the living! :)

Mommy's Gotta Stomach Bug

Sorry guys, I will post my weekend update tomorrow. This stomach bug is kicking my butt today!

Some Tips for NICU/Preemie Babes Coming Home

First of all, sorry about the lack of a post yesterday. I was off, and spent the entire day with Timothy playing eating and riding around, internet free!! :)

Last night when I read Heather’s blog and found out Brayden would be coming home, I started thinking of what life was like when we brought Timothy home from the NICU and thought I would pass along some friendly advice to Heather and any other preemie/NICU parents and what I wish someone would of told us, I realize now, I should of sent this to Heather before now! Sorry, Heather.

1)      Any errands, and I mean any that you need and or want to do, do them NOW! Once you get that sweet baby home you will not be allowed to leave the house for 6 weeks. (well, that was our timeframe) Expect for doctors appointments. Then, when you are out, you aren’t supposed to leave the  baby in the car seat for more than 30 minutes. So that is another stressor. And for me, our doctor’s office is more than 40 from the house, so I freaked out each and every time!

2) Go have dinner with the hubs! You will not be able to do that again for a while! We went to the Melting Pot, one of our favs. And yes, most of the conversation was about Timothy, it was nice to just go and it is us. Now, every time we go to dinner no matter what, with or without Timothy, we feel rushed. So have a nice relaxing dinner!!

1)      Learn how to convert  back to ounces and Fahrenheit, so you don’t get laughed at by your pediatrician like we did! Haha!

4) Always remember you are now doing the job of what four-five nurses and doctors were doing on shifts. You are doing it 24 hours a day! Give yourself some slack and credit! You will be fine!

5) If a family member or friend you trust offer to keep the baby for an hour for you to go grab lunch or go get a book or something, take them up on the offer! You will be a better mommy for it. NICU/preemie mommy’s have it harder than the full term/healthy mommy’s have it because of all the extra demands that come with our lil ones . Just trust me, and take the time off! You deserve it!!

This is just a list off the top of my head, if anyone would like more advice, let me know! Also, thanks for all the prayers, emails and comments for Timothy, I really, really appreciate it! Love yall!    



Our Preemie Experience and Why We Love MoD!!

**I totally meant to post before now, but I have been away from my computer ALL day!! And it isn't even all the way complete, but I wanted to get it posted! Accept my apologies please! I had issues with Timothys treatments today!!**

 We spent a month in the NICU at Greenville Memorial Hospital. It was truly the longest month of my life! Here is how it happened:


I had full-blown, unexplainable Clampsia. Not pre-eclampsia, which most are familiar. No, Timothy and I had to be overachievers and go straight to Clampsia. I had two seizures in the middle of the night and ended up knocked out, by myself, in the OR having our baby. (Can you say, NOT IN THE BIRTH PLAN!)

 
 

 
 {I always see ads of mothers holding their newborn babes right after birth. The beautiful bonding moment that takes place. I gotta be honest, those piss me off! I got cheated! I didn’t get to see or hold my son until about 7-8 hours after he was born. I have cried a lot about the time I missed with him while he was in one hospital and I was recovering in another}


With Timothy being 7 and half weeks early, they informed Brandon and an in-and-out of it me that he had a good survival rate, but his lungs would be severely underdeveloped, because they didn’t even have time to give me a steroid shot to help them along.

Timothy was born March 30^th, 2010. Due to an intestinal blockage, he was transferred to Greenville for their level 3 NICU capabilities. They weren’t sure what was causing the blockage, because he had a small marconum poop, but the rest didn’t make it out. He had what they call a marconium plug. Many things can cause a marconium plug, but one of the main causes, Cystic Fibrosis. Holy cow, we freaked out! And it would take TWO weeks for the blood results to come back to tell us whether he did or not! (Which, they got a bad sample, so it took six weeks for us! Luckily, it came back negative)  

We lived at my parent’s house that month. They offered us the Ronald McDonald House, but my parents only lived about 15 minutes from the hospital, so that seemed a waste, when there were other families that really needed it. Timothy stayed in NICU 1 for two weeks. It was really scary over there. I watched him flat line a couple of times; the nurse had to run over and shake him, super scary! And became really familiar with him having brady incidents.  On top of that, all the other babies in NICU1 are most sick, so it is scary to hear all the bells and whistles at first. But by the time you are a NICU graduate, you can look at up at the screen and say what room, what bed and what the issue was.

 We were only allowed to see/hold him for 30 minutes a day. And we were the only people allowed back there.  All of our friends and family kept telling us they wanted to come see him, not understanding that they couldn’t.  We would call after every feeding and ask how he was. Every night, like clock-work, at 11:00 pm we would call and get his weight for the day.  Then, one glorious morning, Brandon called to see how he did through the night, and the nurse said, “oh, Mr. Blackwell, Timothy has been moved to NICU2. “  Glory day, Glory day!

In NICU2 we could spend as much time as wanted with him! No signing in and out and no door Nazi standing guard. We had a huge room all to ourselves that had a fridge, flat screen TV and a private bathroom! BUT the most important thing it had, was Tbird.

He was such fighter! I failed to mention before, but they didn’t even have to put him on oxygen. He fought hard to get to get his feeding tube out. Going from 1 bottle, to 2 bottles, to 4. Then slowly but surely, he got up to 8 bottles. He also had a tough time with regulating his own temperature. That took a number of weeks to get normal. I would always joke that we would be old pros at changing diapers after doing for so long in that isolate.

 

They called him “wild man” in the NICU from day 1, because he was constantly moving and kicking and pulling out all his cords. One day while Brandon and I were hunting in Target for any preemie clothes (SOO hard to find!) We saw a blanket that said “Born Wild”  on clearance!! Yaya! So we bought it for him to drape over his isolate to protect him from the light.

I remember my first meltdown in NICU2 with my son watching. I remember trying so hard to hold it together to be strong for him, but just unable to anymore.

I remember riding the elevator up and down each and every day to see my boo!

 

 I remember the first day in NICU1 having a gift bag from the March of Dimes that had so many helpful and thoughtful things in it. And just like my blogging buddy Heather, realizing that for the first time, I had a cause to support. I had something to stand up for and say, “this matters, take notice!”


I could go on and on and on with the daily grind that was our life for those days. I even sometimes forget little stuff that happened, until a blogging mommy going through the roller coaster now writes a post on it. I have said from day one in the NICU they taught us how to be parents. We were completely clueless before the kind, doctors, nurses and OT’s helped us. I know everyone has a picture in their head what childbirth would be like, what the hospital will be like and what coming home with a baby will be like. Mine was like anything I could of ever imagined!



Bloggers Unite: Fight for Preemies!!

Everyone,

The big day is here!! Its time to Fight for Preemies.

Stay tuned................

 I am planning to post our preemie story in its entirety today!! ( That means it may be a 2 parter!)

Timothy's Sickness has a Name! Finally!! & Fight for Preemies Reminder...

Can I say that I had no idea how long a doctor’s appointment could last for a 7 month old!! I got the office about 10 minutes early. We of course walked straight back and waited patiently for Timothy to get weighed and his oxygen intake taken. That all went fast, and when I looked at my watch, it was only 2:28! “Yes!!” I thought. I still have plenty of time! Well, we waited and waited for Dr. Hart to come in the room. So long that I ended up feeding Timothy to hold his attention longer.

When Dr. Hart came in to reevaluate him Timothy lit up! He loves that guy! Dr. Hart listened to everything and was really disappointed that he was still wheezing so much. He then said this has been going on for a month, we have got to get rid of this. I most def. agreed! He then decided that they would try a nebulizer and then Dr. Hart would come back in and listen to him again. So there Timothy and I sat waiting for the nebulizer, poor little guy had no idea what he was about to get himself into.

As soon as the mask went on, he screamed bloody murder! Which the nurse said was ok, because that meant it was getting deep down in his lungs. I grabbed my cell phone and attempted to help calm him, by letting him watch VocabuLARRY on my phone. Well, service wasn’t that great, so it kept buffering, and when it did, he would scream all over again!!

This is not ok Dr. Hart!

Finally, the 15 minutes of torture were over! When they were, Dr. Hart came and listened to him and was pleased that he wasn’t wheezing as much as he had been. Dr. Hart said we would continue doing the treatment 6 times a day ( or every 4 hours) for the next two weeks. And he diagnosed Timothy with Reactive Airway Disease or RAD. (Please click on the link for an explanation. It is too much to write, right now!!) Because it is every four hours, I will be getting up at 3 am to do these treatments! Grr. I thought when we started sleeping through the night, these days were over! Silly Mommy!!


On top of that, daycare can’t do the treatments for me, so I am having to take my lunch in two halves and go do his treatments at 11:00 and 3:00. Then I am taking him home at five today and tomorrow, just to turn back around and come back to work until 9:30 both nights! Yes, I will be a walking zombie!!

Anyway, once we finished with Dr. Hart, we had to go over to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital to pick up our nebulizer. On our way out we stopped by the Cancer Center to say hey to Mel for like 2 minutes. Then, we were out the door (in the rain!) to go get his prescriptions filled at CVS.

Brown baggin the meds!

Side Bar: Last week, when Brandon and I went the first time to pick up his prescriptions there was this car in front of us that got a HUGE CVS brown bag full. Brandon and I looked at each other like holy moly, what do they have!?! Well, guess what?!? I was the brown bag lady this week! I mean the thing is huge! Thank Jesus for good insurance though, because One medicine insurance paid $380.00 of and I paid $9.00 Another medicine, insurance covered 180.00 and then I had to cover $9.00 . His other medicine I had to pay $30.00 for, but insurance covered $92.00.    

Sleeping during  the treatment!

When we got home, Brandon had a bottle waiting on Timothy, which of course he refused! Brandon and I decided that we would all go upstairs and rest for a little while. Well, that was of course when he wanted to eat. Brandon gave him his bottle so I could rest a little bit. Then Timothy fell asleep, so we all took a little nap. I had set my alarm to go off at 7:15 to be able to give him his next treatment, and while Brandon gave him that, I ordered a pizza to be delivered. When it got to the house, Brandon looked at me and said, “I think we should just eat in bed!” I was in complete agreement. So here the two of us laid; watching CBS’ Monday night lineup in bed with pizza, and Timothy sleeping beside us.


Timothy actually did well with his treatments at 7 pm, 11 pm, and 3 am- he slept the entire time! Don’t ask me how. Because the nebulizer sounds like a small generator, but he did! Please hear me say, I am not complaining! It made life way easier!!

Thankful for Mommy!

Why must you take pictures of my hiney?!?

Mom, I gotta Turkey on my hiney!!

 This morning at 7 am, was a little bit of a different story! He screamed like crazy, but his eyes were closed , so he ended up crying himself back to sleep. Which made my life easier again, because it gave 30 minutes to get ready uninterrupted!! I took him to daycare today praying I could make this work, and my boss would be ok with me having to half-sees my lunch. But she is totally understanding! (she raised two girls all on her own, so she gets it!)

I went at 11:00 and did his first treatment. He was so cute when I got there, I had to take some pictures! When I started the treatment he cried at first, but then I started singing to him, and he loved it and stopped crying. (Attention everyone: My son must be tone-deaf to enjoy my singing, I am awful!)  So that is our day in a nutshell! P.S. I think I am throwing the “Zen” from yesterday out the window!

Hey toy, My mommy is here!!

Look at my toy!!

Hey Mommy! What are you doing here?!?!

Why Mommy?!?!

I love that he looks like he is waving!

Join Bloggers Unite!!

Also, Please, Please, Please, don’t forget that tomorrow is Bloggers Unite for Fight for Preemies!! Please help bring awareness to all your readers!! Thanks!!