My Cardiac Baby

Every night I lay down and I look at Ella and rub her cheek and I thank God that she is still with me. Every time I think of what happened to her my stomach just flips upside down. Today I felt so bad, because she had to get shots. She was so happy and just cooing at the nurse and then she stuck her and Ella screamed her head off. And of course I’ve spent the majority of today listening to her heart over and over again. We’ve almost gone 3 months w/out Ella having to be rushed off to the hospital and I couldn’t be more thankful for all of the prayers that have gone Ella’s way.

The thought that runs through my mind the most is what made Ella’s doctor want to see her the day after I had brought her in? I have never had a doctor do that. I’ve brought Jayden to the doctors when he was sick and after the doctor checked him over they didn’t call me the next day and say “We just want to check him out since it’s Friday and the weekend’s coming up.” When Ella’s doctor’s office called and said this I almost hesitated to be honest, but thought might as well, she’s still sick. Little did I know that my daughter’s organs were starting to shut down. Little did I know that her heart rate was at 280. Little did I know that in a couple more hours I’d be holding a baby that stopped breathing. Little did I know that my whole world was going to be flipped upside down and forever changed at that moment. Little did I know that I would learn just how much I loved this little girl. I thought she was going to die. To see her laying there lifeless was a feeling I can’t even describe. To have tubes breathing for her was the most horrible sight I’ve ever seen in my life. To have to drive 4 long hours in the middle of the night to Portland while she was being mediflighted there. Not knowing if she made it. Yet, getting that phone call and having the best sigh of relief I’ve ever had – the plane has landed and they’re on their way to the hospital.

One thing that always sticks out in my mind is that next morning – 7am shift change. We’d barely had any sleep since we had arrived there at 4am. But I heard the nurse walk in to the room and say, “This one’s awake in here.” Gino and I jumped up so quick and ran to her side. She just looked at us w/her big beautiful eyes and tried to move her mouth like she wanted to tell us everything that had happened to her and even tried to cry, but there was a tube going down her throat. My little precious, 7 week old, newborn baby.

I cannot express how thankful I am for every prayer that was said for her. For God carrying her in his arms.

Even though she’s had no episodes, she still has her heart problem. I still give her medication every 8 hours. On that ECHO her WPW will still be there. So please pray if you pray that Ella stays healthy.

Thank you.

House Fairy

Do you have a hard time getting your child to clean their room? Or maybe you just want to make it fun and magical and exciting. I came across the House Fairy’s website and while I haven’t paid for a membership yet I’ve tested her out on my son Jayden and it works! To have them not knowing when the House Fairy will show to check on their rooms keeps them on their toes! The house fairy at my house leaves fun little surprises. Chapsticks, pencil, sometimes some coins for the piggy bank. It’s been a fun time and I’ve loved that we’ve made things exciting for him. He even cleans the sink after brushing his teeth! He doesn’t want the house fairy to see a dirty sink. And if I leave the living room messy at all before going to bed Jayden will remind me that the house fairy is going to think that this is just a mess! It’s fun. And it really helps!! I think I’m actually going to get a membership so he can see all the videos and stuff. $10.00 is nothing for the results I’ve already seen!

For other tips that work for others visit ROCKS IN MY DRYER

Being a Mom

Being a mom is such a blessing. I love looking over at my sleeping babies and thinking to myself – WOW I did that. I made them. They’re mine. But at the same time it’s the scariest thing ever. They’re mine. They’re mine to mold. They’re mine to make sure that they are fed, dressed, bathed, taught, loved, taken care of. They rely on me. Without me they could fail. And that’s scary. They watch your ever move and they want to be just like Mommy & Daddy when they’re little. Sometimes we forget this. Therefore, we have to be careful what comes out of our mouths. We have to be careful what directions we’re leading them in life. We have to be careful. I want nothing more than my children to love God, love themselves, love me, love their kids, loves their spouse and live a good life. It is my responsibility to see that they get on this path. An amazing thing to think about is that God trusted me to take care of his children. He chose me to raise them how he would want them raised. He chose me. I don’t know why I never actually stopped to think so deeply about this before. It’s scary, but it’s almost like an exciting rush. Life doesn’t make much sense until you’re staring at your sleeping baby. My life makes complete and perfect sense. I am here for them. I am here to make them good people. I hope that I never fail them. I like to think that I will be here forever for them, and even though I know that I won’t be able to catch them every time they fall, but I sure can try. I am so thankful for my family. I am so thankful that I have been given the opportunity to be a wife and a mother. I am so thankful that I am part of a wonderful church. I am thankful for every smile I get to see on my family’s face. They melt my heart. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

EASY Schedule

The EASY Schedule for your baby ~

I have done this with Jayden and Ella. I got the idea from Tracy Hogg’s book The Baby Whisperer My Grandma bought me this book when I was pregnant with Jayden and tried her tactics and THEY WORKED!! Here’s how the EASY Schedule works:

E stands for Eat
A stands for Activity Time
S stands for Sleep
Y stands for You Time

So, here’s why this schedule works WONDERS with me. Your baby wakes up from a nap and you instantly feed him/her. You do not let them fall asleep while eating. After they finish their bottle you give them activity time. For a newborn this can be a bath, staring into the wondrous world before them. Just time for them to be awake and not be sleeping. Then when they get fussy, guess what! They’re not hungry!!! You instantly know what the deal is. They’re tired. So you wrap them up, rock them and put them to sleep….then you get YOU TIME (time where you can sit and hear the peace, that is if you don’t have other children or the other children are in school!!) You can even schedule out what you’re going to do for each You Time!!! Ella’s at the age that during activity time she likes to get in her jumparoo and jump jump jump and that’s my internet time. My You Time is USUALLY spent working or doing my housework.

This schedule has not failed me through 2 kids now and I love it. I always know what’s next and so does Ella (she’s my current baby) I’m a WAHM and it’s nice to know that things are not out of control. It’s easy for us and I know that I can tell someone when I will be calling them back, because according to Ella’s schedule I know when she’s going to be tired.

OH! And w/this schedule, Jayden never relied on a bottle to fall asleep. Therefore, when he turned 1 – I threw all of his bottles away on her b/day and we had NO ISSUES!!! Straight to the sippy cup like a big boy!

And the exciting thing today – she’s sleeping right now, and when she wakes up she gets to eat baby food for the first time!!! Stay tuned for pictures!!!!

Hope this works for you like it’s worked for me!! I highly suggest reading her book 🙂

For other ideas, visit ROCKS IN MY DRIER