More Kristen

Darren again here. Liss will not be home until sometime tomorrow, but wanted me to go ahead and post a few more photos, so here they are. Much to everyone's surprise, she is already taking a bottle. Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments!!!

Meet Kristen Marie!!!

Yep, she's here!!! I am "guest blogging" for Melissa right now since she is still in the hospital for at least a day or two.

This morning Liss started having contractions again, then bleeding, and by noon we decided to head to the hospital. Within an hour, our 4 pound, 1 ounce bundle of joy came screaming into the world! She is 7 weeks early and tiny, but was not to be deterred. Kristen is currently in the special care nursery and will probably be in the hospital for a couple of weeks, so your prayers are certainly welcomed. Liss sends her love to everyone and her thanks for praying for her after this past weekend (though you were supposed to pray for the baby to wait!)

I want to offer my thanks as well for all of your prayers and encouragement.

Darren

Slowing down...

...by strict orders of my midwife.

We had quite a scare this weekend when, after returning home Saturday morning after working a full 12 hour (crazy busy) shift at the hospital, I began experiencing contractions and bleeding. I had no sooner walked in the door when I was walking right back out again with Darren, heading back to L&D where a bed was already awaiting me! (I had called ahead to speak with the charge nurse first.)

After being hooked up to the external fetal monitor, it was apparent that I was, indeed, experiencing regular contractions, and an exam by my midwife revealed that I was dilated to two centimeters. Suspecting at first a UTI, which in some instances can lead to preterm labor, lab work was collected but actually ruled out any type of infection. Next was the fear that I may have a placenta previa or, even worse, a placental abruption, but thankfully, both of these were ruled out with an in depth ultrasound. I was started on oral doses of terbutaline to help stop my contractions, and injections of betamethasone to improve baby's lung development in the event that I did indeed deliver at 32 weeks (in which case I would have been transported to a different hospital, one with a tertiary care nursery; our hospital has only a Level II Special Care Nursery.)

Darren was able to be with me for most of the past two days, as fortunately my dad and my best friend were available to take turns watching our big kids. I was able to come home late this afternoon, but will continue the terbutaline until I reach 36 weeks. I also received orders that I am not to return to work until after the baby is born, and I have been placed on modified bed rest...meaning that I may resume normal, light household duties, stopping to rest every 2-3 hours. I feel quite optimistic at this point that we will ultimately experience a term, healthy delivery of our baby girl, but I am still, of course, a little worried about the logistics of how these next few weeks will work. Darren is planning to take the next two days off from work, and don't worry: I have no plans for any further home organization projects! We'd already made great progress and the rest is stuff that Darren can finish...under my scrutinous supervision, of course! :)

I think my biggest worry at this point is the continuing care of our sweet little Caitlyn. While she is recovering remarkably well, and is, for the most part, in very good spirits, she still refuses to use her crutches, despite the fact that we've been practicing with her all week. I'm still not entirely convinced that they're the right size for her, and she is having such trouble coordinating her efforts. And she screams every time that it's hurting her, and finally she just refuses to try any further. Exasperating as it was last week, I'm really starting to panic now as there is no way I will be lifting her for any reason from this point on. We're going to speak with her doctor tomorrow about the possibility of a walker, with which we think she might have a little more success.

I'm off now to enjoy a quick dinner with my hubby and kiddos, who I missed soooo much while I was in the hospital, and I'm really looking forward to following it with a nice, long, HOT shower! I can't wait to enjoy a nice long rest tonight in my own comfy bed. And please, if you could continue to pray for our family, we'd really appreciate it! Thanks, friends. I'll try to update frequently!

Our weekend, and a prayer request

Friends, it was a rough weekend. Caitlyn and I became the most recent victims of the nasty stomach bug that's been making it's way through our family late Friday afternoon. (Dylan, Darren, and Meghan had all previously suffered through it in the preceding week or two.) As Caitlyn and I were both pretty much bedridden (between trips to bathroom) for most of Friday and Saturday, all previous plans were cancelled, including "Cowboy Days" at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, which we had all been really looking forward to, a birthday celebration for my Nana, and a half shift at work Saturday night.

By Sunday morning, though, we were both feeling remarkably well, so after church yesterday afternoon, we ventured out to the second day of "Cowboy Days" and had a great time. In fact, I planned to blog about it last night.

However...

We decided upon returning home that, given that extra hour of daylight, we still had plenty of time to play in the backyard and work a bit in the garden. The kids were having a blast swinging, while I sat at the picnic table resting and alternately watching them and Darren, who was working on planting at the flower bed. My gaze had just turned from Caitlyn, gleefully suspended in mid-swing, when I heard the sound of her screams. In that short instant, one of the chains of her swing had somehow slipped off of it's hook, and she was thrown to the ground below, where she sat screaming and cradling her leg. Quickly scooping her up, Darren carried her into the house where we performed a quick assessment and found, to our horror, an ominous lump on her right shin. Given the fact that she was screaming in anguish, saying she couldn't move her leg, and trembling with pain, we wasted no time in bundling her into the van for a trip to the ER. Darren accompanied her while I stayed home with Dylan and Meghan, though it was pure torture for me to wait anxiously by the phone the entire time they were gone. After several hours and a series of X-rays, it was determined that Caitlyn had, as we feared, broken her leg. (More specifically, she suffered a spiral fracture of the distal shaft of her right tibia.) The orthopedic surgeon who was consulted last night felt confident that surgery was not indicated, so a temporary cast was placed from above her right knee to the tip of her toes until he can assess her again (hopefully tomorrow).

It was after 11 when Darren and Caitlyn finally returned home last night, and we tucked her tenderly into a little "nest" I had prepared for her on the sofa in our bedroom. She woke up once in extreme pain at around 2:45 this morning, at which point we medicated her with Tylenol and codeine, and we've decided to keep her (at least for a day or two) on a three hour alternating schedule of the Tylenol with codeine and Motrin, which were prescribed for her last night. I hate, hate, hate seeing her in such pain! Darren has been calling every medical supply place in town this morning in an attempt to procure a set of pediatric crutches, but none seem to be available in quite the right size. For now it looks like the best we'll be able to do is to have set delivered from Albuquerque to a local store tomorrow. Thankfully, Darren is able to be home for the next couple of days to be with us and to help our poor sweet little Cait.

But if it's not too much trouble, do you think you could spare a quick prayer or two for the comfort and quick, uncomplicated healing of our little girl? Thank you so much!

Signs of Spring

Probably one of the best indications (at least for me) that Spring is arriving soon is the fact that I've been out and about with my camera again! How dreary our gardens were during the long, cold winter. It makes me so happy to see such beautiful signs of new life now every time I'm outside. We've seen a couple of butterflies, many buzzing bees, birds are visiting in abundance, and the air feels so invigoratingly fresh and inviting. Even the sky, it seems, is exceptionally beautiful these days!

My spirit is rejuvenated with the tantalizing breath of Spring, and in all areas of my life I am seeking to find balance, order, and harmony. This is why, in fact, I've been so intent on organizing my home over these past couple of weeks. Sweet Frances commented recently, "Don't forget to use this time to work on the virtues you'll need as a mom-to-a-newborn, too. A well-ordered soul can be as beneficial as a tidy, beautiful home, I think." And she is so right! But in my experience, my soul finds no rest in a disorganized, chaotic home. It's not so much a matter of cleanliness, really; my floors are in a near constant need of a good sweeping and mopping, the toilets could really use a good scrubbing, and the dust bunnies under the beds have, I think, established permanent residence. For me, it's more about having a place for everything, with everything in it's place. Over every winter, it seems, I grow lazy in keeping a tight reign on the clutter and mess a family of five tends to generate. Drawers are soon overflowing with needless excess, toys have multiplied and migrated to any unoccupied space, cabinets are filled to bursting with unused accessories, and closets have become sanctuary to any and all "homeless" items, large or small. I can only tolerate the mess to a very short extent! And then, just in time, comes the Spring, and I am more than ready and willing to reclaim order in my home. It's why I've been re-reading A Mother's Rule of Life, and why, after procrastinating for much too long, I've finally bought myself a copy of Sarah Ban Breathnach's Mrs. Sharp's Traditions: Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations Of Comfort & Joy. What a blessing this book has been! I saw it first highly recommended by Cheryl, and, as our personalities seem so similar, I knew it would be a book I'd greatly enjoy.


I love the simple ideas this book has to offer. My kids, especially Dylan, love the suggested "Children's Hour" we've begun to implement in the evenings. Whereas baths were usually, before, a frenzied mess of toys and splashing, with all the kids thrown into the tub together for a quick scrub, we've been following a more peaceful approach lately, with separate baths and a soothing rub of baby oil before pajamas. We've been better about story time before bed, too, which follows immediately after baths and helps settle the kids down to sleep. In anticipation of the time change next weekend, I've been getting up extra early to get my chores done before the kids wake up, so that after lunch we can all have a nice quiet nap time. This affords them extra time in the evenings to spend with us, which we'll really enjoy once we have more hours of daylight.

Mrs. Sharp also describes an idyllic children's garden (complete with walking paths, archways, benches, stone statues, and little hideaways), which I immediately shared with Darren. We're rethinking, now, the layout of our garden for this year, and while I was a little worried that we were getting started too late, I'm glad now that we still have time to include the children more in our plans. We're going to sit down with them and a whole bunch of seed catalogs to gather ideas, and are brainstorming ways in which we can make our garden into more of a retreat for our little ones, as well. It is all so very exciting! And I've had forever now a copy of The Secret Garden, which I've been intending to read aloud to the kids. Today, I think, will be the perfect day to begin!

30 weeks!

Wow. Can you believe it?! 30 weeks! With each day that passes I grow increasingly excited about meeting our new little girl. I've been in extreme nesting mode for about the last two weeks, and while we've accomplished a lot, I feel there is still so much to be done! We ordered a computer armoire for our bedroom last night to contain the ugliness of electronics (so not peaceful), and today I received a changing table, double stroller, baby swing, and TONS of the sweetest little baby girl clothes from my sister in law! I am so very, very happy right now. I cannot wait to finish getting our bedroom set up to accommodate Baby! I am currently in the process of switching out dresser drawers, rearranging our closet, and mapping the furniture layout of our bedroom to best suit all of our needs. Do I seem over eager? :) I keep telling myself to slow down, I still have ten weeks to go...but then I remember that if this baby follows the precedent set by Meghan, I may actually have only five. I hope that doesn't happen, but I'd like to be a little more prepared a little further in advance! And to that end, I'm off now to finish sorting the piles of stuff heaped on top of my dresser; there is no way I can sleep one more night in this mess!