Wednesday, August 29, 2012

catching up

Emmaline is doing well.  She seems to have made a full recovery from her surgery last week and is enjoying all the snuggle time she can get in this last week before school starts :)


By some miracle I have found a bit of time here and there to sew this week.  Over the weekend I made these ruffle pants and capris for Adelaide and Tallulah.

I found this picture of Addie wearing her pants on Regan's camera.

Yesterday I attempted to design my own cupcake pin cushion... It did not turn out quite the way I had hoped.  Guess it is back to the drawing board, or I might just give up! (the top of this was inspired by this tutorial)

Tomorrow is our first day of CC!  The kids are super excited and I am totally. not. ready.  I am eyeball deep in that newborn delirium and wondering how long it will take to swim out of it.  Somehow I think the usual 6 months adjustment time just might continue on for ever with baby number 6!  Our pastor asked me on Sunday if the craziness had settled down at our house.  I just laughed and reminded him that we do have 6 kids! 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

a bit of sunshine for a rainy day

I've been saving up a little cash for a rainy day, and well, I think its been more like a rainy week (both literally and figuratively)!  So, yesterday after I dropped the 4 big kids off at VBS, we headed to the fabric store for some sewing therapy.   We came home with a pile of fabric bright enough to lift any one's spirits on a gloomy day!
And, I actually have plans for most of this fabric! 

Top to Bottom:
*More burp clothes for Emmaline with the umbrella flannel
*Ruffle pants for Lulu and Addie with the next three (see pattern bellow)
*The blue and green between the pink and red will be added to my stash of birdie fabric (you can't see them, but there are little birds on it) that I hope to someday put into a quilt
*Dresses from the red floral fabric (again- see pattern bellow)
*Back to school skirts with the striped and floral corduroy

*The Ta Dots at the bottom were a bit of an impulse buy- I actually ordered them last week and have not decided what I want to do with them yet- but they were just too happy and bright to pass up!



Now if only I could find a few moments to actually sew with all this beautiful fabric!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

He gives more grace...

these are the words that rang in my heart when we were choosing Emmaline's middle name, Grace. And over the past few weeks they have become my mantra- at every turn I see God showing me a bit more of His grace.
On Monday, August 13th, my mom and I took Emmaline to the doctor because over the weekend her reflux had taken a turn for the worse, she was clearly uncomfortable and having a hard time keeping her formula down.  All of my children have had reflux, so although it was worse than anything I had seen before, spitting up was not anything new in our house.  The doctor wrote her a prescription for Zantac and sent us on our way, and when we got home I sent my mom on her way... that was the day she went home.

As the week went on, her reflux seemed to be getting worse instead of better.  Her spit up was forceful, often causing her to gag or going up her nose leaving her gasping for breath.  I was afraid to put her down or even leave the room... By mid week I was holding her literally ALL day. Saturday morning, after she had spit up what I was sure was her entire bottle I decided to take her back to the doctor.  The Zantac was clearly not working and I was worried that she was not getting enough food.  Sure enough, she had lost 2oz since we were there on Monday.  The nurse practitioner we saw upped her dose of Zantac and referred us out to GI.  The only word of caution she gave (when I asked when I should start to worry) was that if she had less than 4 wet diapers in a day to take her to the ER.

That night, two hours after eating she projectile vomited 2-3 feet across the room as I was changing her.  At that moment I knew that something was really wrong, but I had no idea how to help my baby girl.  I just stood there holding her, crying, totally overwhelmed.  I decided it was in both of our best interest to get some sleep and reevaluate in the morning.  The doctor was supposed to be calling Monday with an appointment for the GI doctor.  Hopefully they would bring us in right away because Emmaline was so young.

When we got up the next morning and Emmaline again spit up the entire content of her bottle I knew that I could not wait any longer.  So, while my husband took the kids to church, Emmaline and I headed to the ER at CHKD.
Even as we got to the ER there was a part of me that thought maybe I was just an over-reacting mother and things were really not that bad.  Maybe they would change her medicine, or get us in to see the GI doctor sooner.  Nothing could have prepared me for the diagnosis she got... Pyloric Stenosis.  She would need surgery either that day or the next.  I stood there in shock as they laid Emmaline on the table and prepared to put in an IV.  I wanted to grab her and run from the hospital- this couldn't be right!  My baby girl, not even 3 weeks old, needed surgery?

And here is just on small way that God was showing me a bit of His grace... Pyloric Stenosis was not an unfamiliar condition to me.  My oldest nephew and his father both had Pyloric Stenosis when they were infants.  I had seen my nephew successfully go through the same procedure and even at the same exact age-to the day.

The surgeon came to talk to me shortly after the nurses finally got Emmaline's IV in. (Lets not get into the trauma of that event- hands down worse thing ever is watching nurses over and over try to insert an IV in your not yet 3 week old baby.  It took 4 attempts, it was not pretty, I cried a lot, but not as much as Emmaline.)  The surgery was planned for the next morning- they could have done it then, but felt it was better to wait until Emmaline had gotten some fluids in her- she was so little to be having surgery.

The next 12 hours were the worst.  Emmaline was not allowed to eat because she could not pass the food through her digestive track.  That did not stop her from being hungry though- and even though I knew she would be okay, In those hours of waiting, holding my hungry, crying, confused baby I had a glimpse of how horrible it must be to watch your infant literally starve to death in your arms.

By the time night fell, she was worn out and thankfully slept most of the night peacefully beside me.

She was to be an add on to the surgery schedule for Monday, so we did not know what time the operation would take place, but most likely it was to be after 12pm.  It was a pleasant surprise to have a nurse from the OR at our door a little before 9am.  Emmaline was wheeled back for her procedure at 9:30am and the surgeon found me in the waiting room at 10:20am reporting that all had gone well and they would be calling me back to see her shortly.  We were back in our room by 11:30 with only an hour to wait before my baby girl could finally eat something (even if it was just pedialyte). We spent the next 24 hour in the hospital.   By evening she was awake and alert and for the first time in over a week not spitting up everything she ate! What a relief.

When they finally unhooked all the monitors and took out her IV on Tuesday she lay in my arms and just smiled at me for a long time.  Although I am sure she is still uncomfortable from the surgery, she is so much happier now then she was just a few days ago.  And so again I see God's grace, even in what seemed like a horrible situation.

We are home now and Emmaline is doing well.  And here is what remains of our little adventure this week.
We are so grateful for the friends and family who surrounded us and supported us with their love and prayers these last few days, who brought us meals, dropped of snacks and and a change of clothes for me, watched our other kids so my husband to spend a couple hours at the hospital with me and Emmaline and offered their help in anyway we needed it.  Thank you!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

hospital photos?

The morning after Emmaline was born there was a knock on my hospital room door.  It was the hospital photographer- you know, the ones that come around with the mounted camera on the cart and who rap your newborn in the hospital blanket and take horrible squinty eyed pictures of your baby that somehow they think you are going to want for the baby's album... at least that is who I thought he was.  Turns out the guy was a real photographer with a big fancy camera and a cute little basket to lay the baby in, not to mention a set of poses that any mom would be hard pressed to resist buying (despite the fact that I am in a hospital gown and still have an IV sticking out of my hand!) Anyway, we ended up ordering the CD so we can have complete printing rights.  It came yesterday.  Here is baby Emmaline, just one day old :)










Tuesday, August 14, 2012

firsts

Emmaline's first bath
First visit from her Aunt Sherri
All dressed up in the dress I made her for her first Sunday at church
Where she spent the majority of her first 2 weeks :)  She sure is going to miss her Grammy, I know I am!

Monday, August 13, 2012

little house

I saw this picture on Pinterest the other day and was immediately in love.  I found myself laying awake that night (when I really should have been sleeping) thinking about how I could create my own version of these houses, and so when we ran out to store the next day for diapers and formula we made a quick trip to Michael's to pick up some supplies to try out these ideas spinning through my head.

The pictures below are the test run of the first draft of my pattern.  I did not realize until I went back to look at the original again that I inadvertently used the same colors as in the original photo!  Anyway, there are definitely adjustments to be made in size and design, but all in all it turned out pretty cute.  I used that stiff craft felt for my test run, because it is relatively cheap, but I bought some thick felted wool sheets for the final draft... of course now that my mom it gone I don't know when I will find the time to rework my pattern and make another!



Tuesday, August 7, 2012

big sister

I thought she would be jealous.  But instead she has been pretty enamored.  Where ever Emmaline is, Addie is usually not far away.  When Addie went out with me and my mom the other day she was asking where Emmaline was...

And today, when we asked if she wanted to hold Emmaline, Addie said "yes" for the first time!  She held her for a long time and then asked to hold her again a few minutes later.  She's gonna be a great big sister :)

In other news, with my mom here to help, I've found a few minutes to work on a little project I've been thinking about since I saw it's inspiration on Pinterest.  Here is a little peak at the beginnings of my test pattern.  I will show you more once I finish this up, hopefully in the next couple days :)

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

emmaline grace

Emmaline Grace
July 31, 2012 - 4:30pm
7lbs 9oz, 20 3/4"
A perfect 10 :)

The baby and I are doing well.  Trying our best to get as much rest as possible before heading home tomorrow.  I've included lots of pictures.  Hopefully they will tide you over until I am back here again!
She was alert and looking around right away.
Getting her hearing test- this one is for you Barbara :)
snuggling with mommy...

my little birdy :)
Meeting all her brothers and sisters for the first time.
Regan didn't want to put her down...
actually, none of them did...
They kept saying they wanted to take her home today.
Even Addie seems happy to meet her baby sister, although she wasn't so sure about holding her.


 

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