Photo Meme from Liz

Instructions:
Go to goggle/photobucket/any image source.
Type in your answer into the search box
Using the first image that clearly shows your answer, copy and paste the code below the questions.

1. First name?


2. Favorite color?


3. Celebrity crush? (ok, I don't really go for the celebrities, but I'm in love with Patrick Dempsey's hair. My hubby's used to be like that before he had to keep it in "regulation")


4. Band you are listening to right now? (actually no music is on...but here is what is)


5. Favorite movie? (one of many)


6. Favorite Disney princess? (I have one classic, one recent)



7. Favorite alcoholic beverage? (but only when tailgating on hot game days)


8. Drean vacation?


9. Favorite Dessert?


10. what you want to be when you grow up?

Snapshot Sunday

For today snapshot, I was planning on using the incredible 3D image we received of our little son Matthew on Friday. We had to have two infusion in less than 48 hours this week due to complications during the infusion process on Wednesday...which I'm still bruised from. :( But for our efforts (and for getting up at 4:30am to beat Atlanta rush hour) we were given permission to get a 3D sneak peak at our little stinker. He looks NOTHING like his older brother, but is still just as gorgeous. Maybe I'll post it after he is born as a comparrison between in utero and out!
But yesterday we had an exciting day. I was having contractions through out the day like I usually do after repeated procedures like those...no biggee. But then I started to feel crampy and nauseous. I went to the bathroom and there was blood. Not bright red and in copious amounts thank the Lord...I would have been hysterical! But I had passed my muscus plug. (I know...TMI!!!) When I did that with William, my water broke just a minute after and an hour after contractions were coming every 3 minutes. So, needless to say, I kind of over-reacted and FREAKED! We called both our high risk doctors and our normal OB. They both told us to come in for monitoring just to check if I was dialating. So, I get on the phone and call the family brigade out to watch William. Ian's dad, who is just five minutes down the road, and my mother. Ian's dad to stay with William if I'm admitted, my mother to be with me incase they say "it's time". I have already requested to have both hubby and my momma in the OR room.
When get there and get all hooked up. Little Matthew is doing wonderful. I'm having definite contractions, but they aren't in any pattern and after a quick check (ouch!) they see I have not dialated any...but have begun to efface.
They send me home with explicit instructions of do NOTHING, but drink lots, rest lots and urinate lots! If I have more than 5 contractions (with or without a pattern) in an hour come in immediately. So we are home, crossing fingers (and legs) that we haven't done too much too soon with those procedures back to back. I go see my OB on Monday to be checked again (looking forward to that...sarcasm dripping off the keyboard!) and then in for an ultrasound, tap and infusion on Tuesday with my perinatologists. If they think it is too risky, I'll just be admitted and monitored for no fluid and cord compression.
So with all of this going on, I just wanted to bring out some awareness of preterm labor and premature babies. Things have come such a long way and it's not the death sentence it used to be, but these little babies need more love and support than full term babies. Please say a prayer for all the families and babies going through this roller coaster ride. Thanks!

Snapshot Sunday-ish

I know it's Monday, but it's still "technically" a weekend. This is my first day of being able to head downstairs to the desktop where all of our pictures are loaded. So, that's my reason for my somewhat tardiness.
These two pictures sum up what every unrecognized military member must go through at some point. The elite members of the silent ranks...the spouses. You see all of those window decals on the back window of cars and SUVS everywhere: Hardest Job in the "fill in the blank". So in honor of all those that sit on the sidelines while the game is in full swing, thank you for the strength, support and stability you lend your military spouse. And incase anyone is wondering what it takes to be a military wife...here's a recipe for ya.

Recipe: for a Military Wife
1 ½ cups of Patience
2 tablespoons of Elbow Grease
1 Pound of Courage
3 cups Adaptability
1 ¼ cups of Tolerance
Dash of Adventure.
Marinate frequently with salty tears. Trim down excess fat and sprinkle ever so lightly with money. Knead dough until payday. Season with international spices. Baste with a lot of good memories and friendship. Bake for twenty years or longer until done.
Serve with pride!



Ian pulling out on July 6th 2004. Heading for a long stay at the yards. I was a mess! We'd only been reunited for a month before he had to go out again. It was a hard time during our first year of marriage.



Our reunion kiss on November 2nd 2004! My friend Laura (Ian's MK Chief's wife) took the picture was he ran off the boat giving short salutes to both the flag and the quarter deck. We ran into each other's arms. I still remember crying, but for a different reason. He has three days of stand down and was home for three weeks before off on patrol in the Caribbean.

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial day was a holiday that came about in the late 1860's as a way of remembering the Union soldiers that gave their life during America's bloodiest battle, the Civil War. (Of course the Confederate soldiers have their own rememberance days too that vary on the state: Georgia's is April 26th, the last day in 1865 that a Georgia soldier fought.) Memorial Day wasn't officially a holiday until much later and grew to recognize the sacrifices of all military branches in all the wars they have fought in.

As you go about your day today please say a small prayer of gratitude to all the men and women that have given their lives in the hope of peace and justice (even if you don't agree on the causes). And also say a small prayer of protection for all the men and women that are still fighting for our country in the name of giving others a better way of life and political/religious freedom.

Most people never realize Taps has lyrics, but they are fitting and beautiful for a bedtime prayer either as a nightly or an eternal lullaby. I'm so proud my husband purchased a bugle and now plays Taps live for military funerals. What an honor.





Taps


Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Fading light, dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise, for our days,
'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, neath the sky;
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Sun has set, shadows come,
Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made.

While the light fades from sight,
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.

Thursday 13 #6 Atlanta and her state

OK, it's been quite awhile since I did one of these! I thought I would show a little love to my city and state. You know us Georgia girls and their southern pride. Here are 13 little facts that you may or may not have know about Atlanta and the great state of Georgia.

1. The city symbol for Atlanta is the Pheonix. The legendary bird that rose from the ashes better and stronger than before. Atlanta most certainly did that after Sherman's march. She grew so much stronger, she became the new capital shortly after her rebuilding.

2. The Capitol building downtown is encompassed in pure gold that was mined from the Dahlonega, GA mines about an hour north of Atlanta. I used to love to go pan for gold and gem stones when I was little. We'll definitely have to take our boys there!

3. Six Flags over Georgia got it's name from the 6 flags that have flown on Georgia soil: England, Spain, Liberty, Georgia, Confederate States of America, and the United States. And there is a theme area for each flag at Six Flags as well.

4. The world's largest sculpture is located on the world's largest exposed granite sites called Stone Mountain...just east of the city. The sculpture consists of Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis and Robert E Lee. Of course Robert E Lee's trusty horse Traveler is included too. It was originally meant as a memorial to the confederates fallen soldiers started up by the Daughters of the Confederacy. Now it is a wonderful place for families to step back in time and have a little fun and enjoy the lasershow and fireworks.

5. Georgia is the largest state (in land size) east of the Mississippi. It has also been given the nickname of Empire State of the South due to it's booming economy and draw of Fortune 500 companies.

6. The state flower is the Cherokee Rose, the tree is the Live Oak, the bird is the Brown Thrasher and the fish is the Largemouth Bass.

7. FDR made Warm Springs his home for awhile. His recuperative homestead was labeled the Little White House and is open for tours. Warm Springs is about an hour south of Atlanta.

8. In Gainesville GA, northeast of the city, it is illegal to eat chicken with a fork. Gainesville is called the chicken capital of the world.

9. The sweetest (and in my opinion the tastiest) onion call only be grow in two small Georgia towns: Vidalia (where it got it's name) and Glenville.

10. With a passenger terminal complex equivalent in size to more than 45 football fields, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport bears the proud distinction of being "the world’s busiest passenger airport." Expect delays!!

11. There are 55 streets in the city with the word Peachtree in it. We do that to confuse the tourists. ;)

12. The city of Atlanta has more shopping per capita that ANY city other than Chicago. We have over 130 retail shopping centers within the city limits. And over 16.5 million visitors take advantage of our shops yearly. The Mall of Georgia is the 14th largest mall in the world.

13. The state of Georgia is the world leader in the production of carpet, kaolin, chicken and watermelon. We are known domestically for the 3 "P's": peanuts, pecans and peaches.

Hope you were able to learn a few new things about one of your fellow American neighbors to the south. Come visit us when you get the chance!

It's definitely summer time!

Yes, Memorial day weekend is here...but that doesn't necessarily mean summer. My parents' neighborhood pool has been open for two weeks now. The mosquitos have been out MUCH longer than that! The sound of lawn mowers fill your ears anytime between 9am -11am and again 7pm -9pm on Saturdays. Georgians have learned NOT to mow the lawn any time between the two...it's just too hot and a paramedic will have to be called to hydrate your overheated melted body. Hey, we're not Hot-lanta for nothing guys!!
But another (more fun) reason I know it is summer time are the blackberries that are ripening in our backyard. The muscadine vines are winding up the double trellis we set up for them. The honeysuckle and the gardenias just fill the air with the sweetests of scents when you walk out the front and back doors.
We've all gotten out swimsuits (well, everyone but me...I'll wave from the lounge chair this year) and our special sunscreens. One for William's baby skin that won't sting his eyes if he rubs his hands in them. One for Ian and his sensitive, Scottish skin (certain deodorants make him break out in a rash even). His "white-ness" needs a high spf! And then me...the "normal" one out of the group with just a standard sunscreen. But honestly, I used sunscreen on my face everyday of the year, just an spf 15 though. I'm as big of a sunscreen girl as I am a sunshine girl. Tan maybe be in, but leather only looks good in a jacket. ;)
So happy summer is here. Especially this summer. Especially this June...when I get to meet my little trouble maker. So much for getting to 34 weeks. Oh well, I'll be happy to see him whenever they say it's time. Even though there will be lots of ups and downs in the roller coaster ride of the NICU, this will be the best summer yet!

An Atlanta frame of mind

I know I only lived in NC for four years (weren't we lucky to get the same city twice on our billets!!), but some of the Atlantan ways of doing things have fallen by the wayside...they are all back! I honestly don't know if that is a good thing or not though...hum?

First and most important to me, I've gotten my "southern" back. I honestly never thought I had a southern accent, my northern friends would be scoffing at me right now...but it was never pronounced in a Scarlet O'Hara type way. The main times I would "go southern on you" were when I was mad or super excited. The faster I talked...the more pronounced my accent became. Which is a little weird for the southern accent, since it has such a drawl to it. Not mine! I think that accounts to my peppy personality though. ;)
We were at Northside yesterday (for a LONG time) for an infusion yesterday, and it was packed! I of course start talking to the women around me. All of us "high-riskers" have to stick together for the sanity of bedrest and scariness of the NICU. The main lady I was talking to (she had IC and IUGR) will also be scheduled to deliver in June, and she was from Michigan. First thing she commented on was my accent! I have noticed that hanging out around family, especially Ian's side that is from small south Georgia towns, it has brought mine out. And I welcome it back! Yay! I might be biased, but I think the southern accent carries with it the charm and carefree days of yester-year. It's relaxing, comforting and just erases anything that is complicated.
Another thing I've noticed I've been doing is noting distance to different places in miles again instead of minutes. In Wilmington, whenever anyone asked how long it took to get to something, the answer was almost always either 15 -20 minutes. (unless you were heading over to the far end of the county or the bridge was up letting in a boat off the Cape Fear). But in Atlanta, you never know how long it will take you to go just 5 miles. It could take 5 minutes, or it could take 30. We use miles around here. How far is it to the Town Center Mall? 10 miles. How far is to Turner Stadium? 27 miles. How far is it to Hartsfield/Jackson Airport? 34 miles. If you asked how long it took to get to any of those....the answers would vary from 10 minutes to 2 hours and you would recieve a question back. What time are you planning on leaving? If it is in between 6am and 10am...stay home. If it is between 3:30pm and 7:30pm...stay home. Or bring a frisbee or football and join in the game of the 9 lane parking lot we call I-75. :)

Snapshot Sunday

Didn't think I'd go a weekend without a snapshot did ya? ;) Well, first I have to give a shout out...I'm HOME!!! I got home yesterday afternoon and spent a glorious and refreshing night sleeping in MY bed for the first time since Monday night! Felt SO good...would have felt better if I wasn't hurting, but we can't have everything in life and I'm just grateful to be with my husband and son again!
But alas, I digress (as I usually do)...on with the snapshot. Now, I'm kind of cheating on this one since all of my photos on the computer in the office downstairs along with the scanner, so I got this from photobucket. And it is just a picture of bubbles. Yep, free floating water bubbles...not even the pretty, multi-colored, childish, soapy bubbles. The plain jane, clear as water, water bubbles like you would see coming out of an aquarium filter. But these bubbles were SO precious to me on Friday when I saw bubbles entering my womb to give Matthew a freedom of movement and a better chance of lung development. (Which he is fully taking advantage of both with sommersaults and hiccups!)
Some people ask me what it feels like to be infused...well to be honest...it feels mighty uncomfortable! When you go from something the size of a softball to a watermelon in 30 minutes, the stretching and pulling hurts. The pressure and fullness I guess feels like you just ate three Thanksgiving meals in ten minutes time only to be told...there are no more Tums or Gas-X left in the house! NO! And let's just say that unbuttoning your top button on your pants just doesn't cut it! The gush of fluid into a dry environment can be likened to an uncomfortable tickle. Like ants creepy up your leg or that feeling you get down your back if someone scratches their nails on a chalkboard (if that even effects you...it honestly doesn't do a thing to me). But after a few seconds it goes away and you just start feel the fullness until it seems you can't expand anymore like a water balloon that is being tested to it's limits. The most uncomfortable part is of course the needle and tube insertion. The needle stick, I used to liken to an ant bite...no biggee what so ever, but now my stomach is so sore and bruised, these small needle sticks are feeling more like an attack from an angry wasp. The tube insertion is more pressure than pain I guess, I can feel the pop everytime it goes in further to get to another layer of muscle, but since the opening is already made with the needle...it just feels like you are kidding yourself that you can really fit your head through that turtleneck and keep pulling. It's uncomfortable but not painful like I said. This infusion took the longest of any of the others, mainly because I was dry, but also because the doc had to go "searching" for a good area. Now the "searching" HURTS! It feels like a burning, ripping sensation...which it kind of is since he is separating the amniotic sac from my uterus. Usually this doesn't last long, but it went on for nearly 8 minutes this time around. My body was drenched in sweat by the time it was over! But the minute he found a possible place, a big smile just sweeps over you and you feel NO pain! With the needle and tubing in for 30 minutes or longer, that starts getting more sore around the "poke" site. It's been two days, and it's still sore to touch today, but I know every day will be better. And I'm sure when I go back on Tuesday for a fluid tap and more needles I will have had to morning to rest in relative comfort.
But like I said, the bubbles are the BEST! And Matthew really liked them as well. He had his own little jacuzzi jets at this feet. The minute that fluid started pouring in (all 750cc's)he started kicking furiously! It was just like someone turned on the radio and he just could resist getting up and dancing. We were all laughing (though I was trying not to since I still had a huge needle going through my stomach). Several times he kicked too recklessly that he would stab his own little feet on the infusion needle! We'll have to make sure little Matthew has one of those crib aquarium toys. I think he'll like the bubbles. :)

I've moved...again!

Man...I thought you moved a lot in the military...which we did. But at least we had longer stints of time in places. We haven't even settled into our home that we bought back in February, only for me to have a new address: Northside Hospital Atlanta, High Risk Unit, room 100. Yeah boy! Needless to say, I've not been as excited about this move...but am more grateful than can be said. I'm so happy they are helping my son even before he is born. I love our doctors, nurses and techs!! They rock.
But needless to say, I'm pretty much on continuous monitoring and getting poked and prodded quite a bit, so I won't be blogging all that much from now on until Matthew arrives. (which could be an hour from now up to three weeks). They will schedule a c-section for the first of June when I am around 31 -32 weeks. They say the risks of prematurity will be less than the risk of keeping him in with absolutely NO fluid. Yep, the infusion failed. :(
So now it's just a wait and see. I'll be back as often as possible.
I want to say a little prayer of Thanksgiving to my friend from Liz and her daughter Claire. I am SO happy for them and proud of mommy!! Great job. I've read the blogs, just haven't had a lot of time to post...but wanted you to know that I did read them. :) Thanks for your prayers for us. Hopefully I can keep little munchkin in a while longer. Vitals time...tata for now!

It MUST be the hormones!

I can't believe it myself! I actually want to be pregnant again! I'M STILL PREGNANT WITH THIS LITTLE GUY! My SIL told everyone yesterday that her and my brother are expecting their second child together mid January. I was so excited for them. They had been trying for a year. But after the fact, the only thing I could think of was...I want to be pregnant. Then Matthew gave a hard kick to my spleen and brought me back to reality. :)

I always said I wanted 2 -3 kids. But with all the ups and downs and sleepless nights of this pregnancy...I vowed if Matthew pulled through...we wouldn't tempt fate again. Our family would be complete. And it will be. Who could ask for anything more than two precious boys, brothers and friends for life? I was happy to play with my brother when I was young, but their comes a time when a girl is all about dress up and boys and a boy is all about dirt and sports. There is a distance that comes with age between brother and sister...you talk, create memories and enjoy family vacations together...but you don't really "play" with each other any more. And then comes the dreaded high school years when I had a crush on one of my brother's friends...THAT didn't go over well, especially when my brother's friend asked my brother if he could ask me out. Needless to say, someone never came back to the house after that. But William and Matthew will be brothers. I know they may have different likes and personalities...I expect that...but it just seems "nicer" to me to have two of the same. Perhaps others that have "been there, done that" can enlighten me. :)

But another reason I proclaimed at the top of my lungs "I'M DONE!" was out of fear. Not much out there truly frightens me except thinking of something happening to my hubby, kids and close family/friends. Public speaking...I thrive on the attention, death...why be afraid to be at peace when it is your time, tornadoes...the beauty fascinates me (and I'm usually the idiot standing in the front yard taking pictures anyway!), roaches....well...ok...roaches DO freak me out. But I was afraid I wouldn't be strong enough to endure another high risk pregnancy. I am so thankful God has blessed me with an inner strength I never knew I was capable of reaching...an inner peace so to say. I've never been put in a situation where I was told to choose if my baby should be given a chance (and a very slim one at that) of taking his first breath or letting him go and letting God heal him in Heaven. I am extremely Pro-Life in my beliefts, but I must admit I did struggle with this decision. Did I want my newborn baby placed in my arms limp and unresponsive because he had already passed? If he did pull through did I want him to have to make weekly trips up to the hospital for dialysis until they could find him a kidney? Did I want to get through this whole ordeal and seem to come out clear of all obstacles only to watch my child die in an incubator due to a common cold virus that can be lethal in preemies? (this one STILL terrifies me!)

But I've prayed and I found peace. God will choose and I don't have to! What a relief! And so...this is what I will do about another child. Even though our pregnancies have been "planned" they are ALWAYS planned by God before we even get the little gleam in our eyes. So, I am happy to say we would love another gift from God in the form of another child, but completely understand if it is not meant to be too.

Off to show William off at Grandma's work. Fluid tap and an infusion tomorrow. Prayers please.