nate...part 2

Thank you to everyone for the positive feedback on Nate...Part 1! If you are just now joining us on this journey, you may want to go back and read.

Some of my memories are a little fuzzy, but I'll do my best to stay as true to the story as possible.

Soon after Nate's delivery, my nurse wheeled my down to the NICU to see him. Little did I know how familiar this place would become. It was so intimidating to see all the machines and tubes and wires. Even the sounds were intimidating. My dad joked that it sounded like slot machines in Vegas. (I wouldn't know...never been!)

Nate was on a ventilator to help him breathe. They put tubes into his umbilical stump to provide nutrients. He was stable and we could touch him and pat him, but he wasn't stable enough to be held. That was tough!

The doctors took him off the ventilator and put him on C-Pap, which provides oxygen, along with some pressure. Later they took him off C-Pap and he was just on oxygen through a nasal canula.

Nate, 2 days old, on a nasal canula for oxygen.

Later that day, back on C-Pap.

It seemed like we took one step forward and two steps back. Jeremy and I thought that he just needed some time and then would be ok.

He slept all the time. He didn't even open his eyes for the first two weeks. He was pretty pitiful.

The doctors were trying to figure out what was wrong with Nate. They did numerous test for genetic disorders and metabolic disorders. He had a spinal tap. An MRI. Ultrasounds. EEGs. And everything came back normal. Such a praise, but the doctors were puzzled.

One week old, back on the ventilator.

I didn't go back to work for the rest of the school year. I was working on my master's degree and my professors allowed me to finish when I could. They were so understanding. Jeremy was working and going to school at the time and was at the hospital as much as possible.

I got into a routine. I would take the girls to school and head over to the hospital. Jeremy would stop by between work and school. My mom and dad would come up about every day. We'd usually drive back home (about 30 minutes) for dinner and then go back after shift change for a couple more hours. The girls weren't even allowed to visit Nate because of the risk of infections. No children in the NICU during flu season.

During all this time, I was pumping breastmilk for Nate and had a huge stockpile! I felt like that was the one thing I could do for my baby.

We had a great support system. My family was great to help out with the girls and keep me company at the hospital. Our Sunday School class provided meals and money. Jeremy's parents were still living in California at the time. We called them frequently with updates and they came out for a visit around Easter. And we had countless prayer warriors.

Two weeks old.

We were so excited when Nate could start wearing his own clothes!!

Nate on his first Easter. At the time, he was in an oxygen tent, but we used the mask when we held him. He was fed breastmilk through an NG tube.

At 4 and a half weeks Nate was still having trouble breathing on his own. He required oxygen and would have frequent desats (when his oxygen levels would drop). He couldn't suck or swallow and didn't have a gag reflex. His muscle tone was poor and he had muscle tremors.
The doctors were stumped. Finally the decision was made that Nate would be transported to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

garage sale

Well we survived our garage sale last weekend! So much work and so worth it. My friend Amy and I had our sale together. It's always more fun when you can sit and chat with a friend. Well, when we actually got to sit! We were busy!!

When we set up the night before, we had the entire garage filled. 9 long tables and 5 card tables between us. I had an embarrassing amount of baby girl clothes!! And lots of bigger items too. After the sale, we were able to condense down to less than half of the garage. Everything is on one long table and the 5 card tables.

We still have a ton of stuff to sell! So we're going to open back up next Saturday since it's our city wide garage sale weekend. And Amy thinks she can scour her house and find more goodies to sell.

Oh, and I get to cross that off the list too!!

i'm learning

I happened to meet our high school's art/photography teacher at a professional meeting a couple of weeks ago and she was generous enough with her time to teach me a few things! I know I have a lot of practicing to do, but it was fun to go out and and take some pictures of a couple of my kiddos (Bri was at a church league softball game and Nate was home with grandma). Here are just a few of the pictures I captured:

She kept laying down on the grass. Silly girl!

I had to give her my keys to keep her happy. WHATEVER it takes to make her happy! :)

This is one of my favorites. Not so crazy about the background though.

And another favorite.

Thanks, Audra!! I appreciate you giving up an evening to talk cameras!

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Bathrooms

It's that time once again for Show Us Where You Live. This week we are off to the bathrooms. Now before we get started, I want to remind you that our house was built in the 60's. That was before they even invented Master Suites and bathrooms as big as your bedroom. Probably one of my only complaints about our house. But I can live with it.



We'll start in the main bathroom, which is shared by all 4 kids, and any guests that happen to stop by.
I was going for a "spa-like" feel when I decorated this room. The mat is bamboo and the shower curtain is a textured fabric. I'd really like to tile the floor!

Here's the bathtub...not so "spa-like!" And this is Nate's bath chair. It's quite an eye-sore, but is a necessity if we want a clean kid!

I took this picture of a hibiscus in bloom in my backyard.

And...the sink. Remember the sink I WANT? Wouldn't it look perfect in here? I think so! I'm just not into the brown, sparkly swirls.

This is hanging on the wall by the door.

Now, on to the Master Bath.

This is our corner shower. Very small and there's no way I'm showing you inside. It's waaay too scary to share with you...I love you too much!

The sink and another vanity with brown swirls. Soooo pretty!!

Some extra storage in the bathroom.

The walls are tile halfway up and then I papered the top. It's a cool paper from Lowe's that you tear into pieces and overlap. Makes it look kind of like marble. And really easy to do since you're dealing with small pieces of paper.

I don't particularly like this ivy hook. But it works for my necklaces and headbands. And no one ever sees our bathroom anyway...until now!!

Thanks for stopping by! Now go check out some of the other bathrooms at KellysKorner.

Thrifty Thursday

I just couldn't wait to share my bargain finds with you!

I bought this chair at Goodwill for $4.99!! I think it will be perfect once I recover the seat.

And this little bench was too good to pass up. Another $4.99 treasure. It has some marks on the legs and the seat needs recovered but I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

This desk cost a little more than the other items, but was still reasonable. It's a child's desk made of walnut and it's in great condition. I found it at an antique mall.

Don't you just love the little drawer and writing board (for lack of a better term)?

Plus I went to Hobby Lobby and everything I bought was 50% off!!

I have a little project planned involving all these items and when it's all finished, I'll be sure and share.

Everything I bought still cost less than a month's worth of golf...and look what I have to show for it!!

** This post is part of Thrift Store Thursday at HomebodyHolly. Check out her thrift store finds!