tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59789785212680878322024-02-18T23:13:51.391-07:00momentsmarking moments as a mother, wife, and sometimes as an individualBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-75381291237998489022011-12-24T19:30:00.000-07:002011-12-24T19:30:27.715-07:00The Nativity StoryThe Birth of Jesus Foretold 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you![a]”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-16329210362362855672011-12-24T08:24:00.000-07:002011-12-24T08:24:11.179-07:00Christmas EveChristmas is almost here!
This year feels richer. Bella is more aware of her surroundings and what's going on. She may not know the idea of presents, but she sure has made her way over to the tree a dozen times and has attempted to open or chew open some of the gifts already ;)
We do sincerely miss the snow and seasonal Christmas weather we became accustomed to in South Dakota. Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-74981765895722689662011-12-11T21:20:00.001-07:002011-12-11T21:27:47.336-07:00Operation ProcrastinationThis upcoming week brings forth lots of festivities, appointments, and holiday chaos.
Monday Bella and I have the pleasure of meeting a new mom to a daughter with Down syndrome in the area. We'll be meeting at a local Starbucks and swapping stories of learning our child has Down syndrome. Bella needs her medication refilled, so since we'll be closer to that side of town I arranged on Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-78509383331092437912011-12-09T19:16:00.000-07:002011-12-09T19:16:14.983-07:00Christmas BlessingsThis may be sporadic, as Bella and I are in the midst of making Miles' Jell-O Christmas cookies and traditional sugar cookies tonight. (She is such a great helper! She peaks in through the oven door and talks to the cookies as they are baking, encouraging them to be delicious.)
We were so blessed to meet with her new cardiologist from Children's of D.C. this week. It was short Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-66497502224656274752011-12-05T09:12:00.000-07:002011-12-05T09:12:17.873-07:00Prayer Request: BellaBella is seeing a (hopefully better) cardiologist at Childrens on Wednesday. We are going to get a second opinion. We do not feel her current cardiologist does a well enough job to diagnose and/or monitor Bella. The care is well below what a specialty clinic should provide. We were highly unimpressed with the female in charge of her ultrasound. She was not meant to work with children!Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-22968908249610018902011-11-28T15:57:00.000-07:002011-11-28T15:57:43.437-07:00Thanksgiving & Birthday VacationWe are finally back home from our long road trip to and around Florida. Miles has taken a few more days off of work so that we can have some private family time together since we rarely ever get exclusive vacation time to ourselves anymore. I'm so appreciative of this time with him.
Bella got to meet her great-grandparents down in Fort Meade. They were delighted to see her and Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0Bristow, VA38.723303 -77.536704338.662949000000005 -77.593527299999991 38.783657 -77.4798813tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-20424403849943844272011-11-12T00:19:00.000-07:002011-11-12T00:19:09.051-07:00Being NeighborlyOver the past few months I've run across our neighbors who help sandwich our little townhome in with a few others. Sometimes they wave, sometimes they smile. We don't know each other at all and I wouldn't even know it if their mail were in my box by accident unless I looked at the house number.
For the most part they've been quiet. Once in a while I'd hear some major vocal Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-80524421512015734062011-11-11T18:41:00.000-07:002011-11-11T18:41:22.742-07:00From SoDak to NoVaSince the last post, Bella and the family have uprooted from kind, compassionate and warm (hearted, not weathered!) South Dakota to Northern Virginia. We are back on the east coast, baby!
Bella is a lot better than she was in February 2010. She will be 2-years-old this month and is almost walking :) We dearly and sorely miss her old OT (occupational therapist) in Rapid City.&Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0Bristow, VA38.723303 -77.536704338.662949000000005 -77.593527299999991 38.783657 -77.4798813tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-80806316957287972052010-02-22T07:55:00.000-07:002010-02-22T07:55:28.711-07:00Picciestired after lots of belly time!
Staring up at me when she was admitted into the hospital for the first time since coming back home.
The cats LOVE her :)Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-15892990340344733572010-02-22T07:33:00.000-07:002010-02-22T07:33:43.112-07:00Back in BusinessLong time no see.
Bella is now almost 3-months-old, weighs in now at 8.5 lbs and has grown to 19.5" in length. She's begun taking to the bottle (currently I stop her continual feed for 1 hour prior to bottling, attempt to give her at least 21mL's of formula and begin her feed again).
I don't know what I thought, but the first year with baby played out differently in my head. Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-39075894624684572582009-12-16T09:43:00.000-07:002009-12-16T09:43:59.027-07:00Successful Surgery #3Bella's surgery went very well. You can read about it at her Caring Bridge website here.
I wish I had more in me, haha but I'm so spent that there isn't much to write about. For now, all we care about is Bella's progress in her health and getting our baby girl home.Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-83414932810288401032009-12-15T08:46:00.000-07:002009-12-15T08:46:14.685-07:00There's No Place Like Home...I think I can speak for both Miles and I when I say that we are so extremely tired of this. We're so thankful we knew before Bella was born of her Down syndrome diagnosis and to learn of her AV defect. We're thankful we were prepared and knew what was coming... but I have to admit, this possibility of another surgery is definitely a shocker to me. I suppose it was the last thing I Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-61028230888609663522009-12-14T08:09:00.000-07:002009-12-14T08:09:00.900-07:00We're Not In Kansas AnymoreOn December 7th, the doctors found that Bella had coarctation of the aorta. This needs immediate fixing and so shortly after hugging my parents goodbye around 10:00 AM, we found out the news. We had been on our way to get some lunch when the doctor called us and said that we needed to skip lunch and come to the hospital right away. Miles and I looked at each other and knew, "Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-87002796794166157562009-12-04T23:15:00.000-07:002009-12-04T23:15:16.206-07:00NICU Day #10As anyone can imagine, having a baby in NICU is a stressful temporary circumstance. Within the past days I've significantly dropped in my motivation to do anything but see and be with Bella.
Over the past few days we realized her neonatologist/pediatrician wasn't checking in on her. We didn't think much of it until we asked the nurse last night what the new orders were from himBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-86644049239634323792009-12-03T00:52:00.000-07:002009-12-03T00:52:20.220-07:00NICU Day #8Bella's respiratory rate is still considered too high to attempt bottle feeding. Until then we're just waiting for her to learn to breathe at a slower pace. She's no longer on room air, as she only lasted 7 minutes before her blood oxygen levels dropped too low. We're fine with her being on oxygen... or, as fine as you can be with anyone being on oxygen. Both Miles and I Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-6511552019942588822009-12-01T23:49:00.000-07:002009-12-01T23:49:42.487-07:00Nicu Day #7Last night I absolutely crashed. Well, to be honest, I had finally let myself accept that I was stressed and therefore "indulged" in some much needed "me" time. Due to that, I never updated with an entry about Bella. I, of course, feel super horrible but realize that there wasn't entirely too much to report on!
Today Bella turned 1-week-old! In honor of this, I stuck her Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-63304954974938280712009-11-30T01:01:00.001-07:002009-11-30T01:02:38.603-07:00NICU Day #5Ever since Tuesday, Bella's arrival, I can feel a mental change that will forever impact me. Perhaps my priorities aren't much straighter, and maybe I still will lose focus on the important things... but life feels differently. I can tell you this though, I appreciate a lot more. My heart is a bit more empathetic, and I'm looking at people a little more lovingly. As years Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-59883976390987583002009-11-29T00:05:00.001-07:002009-11-29T20:17:42.669-07:00NICU Day #4The exhaustion over this past week is catching up to Miles and me. We'd wanted to be at the NICU by 9:30 AM but ended up waking up at that time. Hurriedly we got cleaned up and left, making it there by 10:45 AM and fortunately did not miss the pediatrician. He briefed us on the upcoming new things for the day with Bella, and how she did the night prior after we left.
Today is Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-74643066908523722502009-11-28T01:13:00.001-07:002009-11-28T01:15:31.368-07:00Bella Meets Grandma & GrandpaDespite getting in late the night before, Miles, my parents and I were able to make it to the NICU around 8:30 AM. I was thankful to be able to talk to Dr. Benn (Bella's NICU pediatrician) who gave us some good news!
Her white blood cell count and other numbers are still decreasing. The lab tests have not yet come back on whether or not she has an infection but it's looking as if sheBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-74037877962619575912009-11-26T20:13:00.000-07:002009-11-26T20:13:37.718-07:00Bella's 1st ThanksgivingAs of 11:00 AM I was released from the hospital :) Of course, Miles and I ended up physically leaving at 1:30. Before actually checking out we went to be with baby Bella.
Dr. Buehner (my OB/GYN) came into my room first this morning. The nurse knew I was anxious to go see my baby, so she requested that he make the trip to my room first. Upon his entering, I greeted Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-14323199454907367542009-11-26T06:19:00.000-07:002009-11-26T06:19:34.456-07:00Welcoming BellaAs most of you may know, Miles and I had our little baby girl on November 24th at 2:04 PM here in Rapid City, South Dakota. She weighed in at 5lbs 11.9oz and was 17.5" long!
I have been writing down everything I can remember from going to my OB/GYN appointment that day, up until the day after having her. Today will be my third day here at the hospital, however, because Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-76624485839672883622009-11-24T12:12:00.001-07:002009-11-24T12:12:51.463-07:00We are having a baby today! Once I am conscious I will update you!Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-48250955894274100952009-11-23T09:45:00.000-07:002009-11-23T09:45:04.932-07:00Last CleaningAs much as I hate sleeping in, as much as I hate not doing something productive, I allowed this past weekend to be quite a lazy one. Thankfully we did complete the nursery (YAY!), now all that is left is putting things away in there and cleaning up. I figured we will soon not having weekends to sleep in on, and I know Miles has been quite stressed with work and thanks to my Brittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-40067351008974863812009-11-23T08:30:00.001-07:002009-11-23T08:33:26.054-07:00Book Review: Mere ChristianityWhile I do post my reviews of each finished book on my Goodreads.com account, for posterity sake I'd like to begin adding them here as well. Plus, if I run out of characters (which I almost did in reviewing this book!) then I can at least have seemingly more space to yak out my thoughts here. Beware... this is over 4100 words, lol.
From Goodreads.com... (full review/opinion)
When youBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978978521268087832.post-69669738374943063962009-11-19T10:21:00.000-07:002009-11-19T10:21:33.293-07:00Sights on GodBecause God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.
— Augustine of Hippo
My husband has been having a hard time at work. Everybody, I know, has hard times at work and at least once in their lifetime they will run across a boss who just downright doesn't care about how they make any of their employees feel. Unfortunately this is my husband's firstBrittanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01296754153400437571noreply@blogger.com2