update!!!

So here is a little update on Eva.....she will be 7 months old next week.


Two weeks ago she started crawling :-O

One week ago she started pulling up (wow!!)


Kyle is bound and determined that she will be walking by the time he goes to Iraq (mid January, BTW)

For Thanksgiving we will be heading out to Caddo Lake to see all the family again. Not sure yet if we will be camping or staying with mom and dad. We'll see. :D

School is not going so hot. I am supposed to graduate in a month but that may not happen so say a prayer or two if you think of it. And thanks, btw!

Love to all of you!!!

Rocking Camille

I found this essay on a nursing journal website I belong to. It brought tears to my eyes and I thought it deserved to be shared. Just a warning though.....get your kleenex!

Candice



Stepping into my clogs and starting my shift in Labor and Delivery always brings a sense of anticipation to my heart.Nearly two decades have passed and I am still excited to assist with the birth of a baby. People often comment on how lucky I am to work in such a happy environment. This is true, but there is another side that most people, even other nurses, will not discuss.Some babies are born with issues that can not be fixed. Some babies are born so prematurely that they can not be saved.This was the case the evening I met her. She was 20 weeks gestation, born due to premature rupture of membranes. She was perfect; hands two centimeters long, each miniature fingernail in place, her skin fragile and translucent, her eyes still fused. Lungs are immature at this gestation so she would never breathe, but her heart beat.Her heart was beating 140 times a minute -- normal. She was already a surprise because most babes this small die in the birth process.With complex assignments like this one we help the primary RN as much as possible. I was to take her vital statistics and obtain mementos. We bathe and dress these little ones, take photographs, obtain hand and footprints-- a lock of hair if possible. We wrap them in warm blankets and keep them with their parents for as long as desired. Any spiritual or cultural rituals are honored and arranged for the family.These steps have been shown to help the family grieve their loss. I think it helps the staff process the death also.Her parents did not want to know anything about their little girl. They chose not to see her. At birth she was taken out of the room immediately at their request. We have rooms that provide the necessary privacy for these delicate times.Most parents want to be with their child, especially if born alive. Most parents hold their newborn. This was not the case for this little one.At first I was upset. She was still alive! Someone needs to hold her; her family!The situation was not so simple. This baby was a twin. Her brother was healthy with great possibility of living. His separate and intact bag of water had saved him.Mom and Dad were holding on to hope. The prospect of losing both babies was scary and heartbreaking so they focused their energy on the twin that still had a chance.If fear and desperation were going to separate her from her family I would do my best to fill in. Honoring her short life was the least I could do. I wrapped her in a warm blanket. I was able to rock her, talk to her. It should only take a few minutes. Five minutes… her heart rate 120’s. Rocking, rocking…I did not intend to name her. It wasn’t my place.But the name Camille just popped into my thoughts.I decided she deserved a name since she was still alive. It was just between the two of us anyway. Twenty minutes… heart rate 100. It shouldn’t be much longer Camille…. rocking, rocking…I hold her in my hands, as if I’m holding a prayerbook… rocking, rocking…Thirty minutes… heart rate 60. I’m trying to be patient…Little ones like you don’t live this long. Rocking….Forty minutes…. heart rate 50. She is exceeding any expectation I had of her. Rocking…Fifty minutes… heart rate 5. Fifty-three minutes… the heart beat became a flutter and stopped. Peace for this little person.Fifty-three minutes of rocking Camille. Sweet, strong Camille.It has been three years since Camille. I still get teary when I think about her. She taught me that there are still surprises to watch for. She confirmed for me that life is to be respected even when it isn’t perfect. I was humbled by her strength and beauty. Who knows what her sensory capabilities were? Was she comforted, possibly aware of her surroundings? Only she knows. I was given the honor to be with her. I rocked Camille. She is the reason I am a nurse.Note: This is a true account of my experience but I have changed some minor elements to prevent identification of the family involved.Thank you for understanding.

Daddys in Portland

I am in Portland, Oregon i am here with the Air Force Reserves doing my two weeks annual tour. I am waiting on my wife and my baby to show up on Friday. Candice and Eva are going to be here till Tuesday. I can't wait to see them. I don't know how much stuff we will get to do together but it doesn't matter we will be together as a family.

Me and Eva are all by ourselves

Well.....for a week anyway. Kyle went to Portland Or this am for the AF. They will be gone two weeks.....but we are flying up there Friday morning for the weekend. Yes....you heard that right....I am flying....with a baby....by myself. Sheesh. Is my head screwed on right? But I am really looking forward to it. It will be an adventure! We are flying Southwest.....mainly becase they don't charge extra is you have more than one bag.....oh and parking is easier and cheaper.

Well, Kyle has landed and he says it is totally beautiful out there. They are staying in a hotel by the airport (which also right by the base). Lucky us, he gets his own room ;)

Well, I better get. Kyle promises to update on here so check back soon!

Are you ready to ROCK?!?!

Tonight is the journey*Cheap Trick*Hart concert at the old Smirnoff concert place. WOO!!! Me and Kyle and meeting my best friend Krysie and her hubby Drew at this place called Iron Cactus tonight for some mexican food (mmmm!) and then heading over for the concert. We are taking Lil Bit with us and sitting kinda in the back......away from all the dopers! lol We are also meeting up with my sis Carling, her husband Chuck, and their friend Joel. Hope we are not out too late tonight.....I have to work tomorrow. Bleh!

Well.......I better get. Have a great week!

Can I just say I love that 70's show!!


Hi yall!!!

Eva is huge! There is a little one...and I'm talking little...at church who is 11 months old and she is like 3 or 4 inches taller than mine and a couple of pounds heavier. I have a B.O.G.....Big Ol Gal! :D I love my cuddley sweetums. The fun part is that she is totally breatfed.....boobie babies are usually skinnier than formula fed babies. Oh well....she is healthy. No colds or stomach bugs and what not. And she is happy. I love her smile!!

Kyle is doing good. He loves being a daddy and he is soooo good at it!!

Ooops E is crying...I gotta go!

VBS tomorrow

Fun stuff! So tomorrow is VBS and I signed up to get the kiddos registered in the morning. :D K signed up to be a barnyard keeper or something......but the base called this afternoon and changed this weekend from next to this. BoOOOO HISSSSSSSS!!!!! Oh well. Good ol Kim is going to keep E for me while I work at VBS. This should be fun.

I swear she is trying to cut teeth!!! I can see them beneath her gums but they haven't erupted yet. Anyway she has been a drooly julie for two weeks or so but in the past two days she has been getting so fussy!!!

What to do on a Friday night. Not much.....K has to be in Ft Worth at 0530. YACK!!!!! I think we will go get a movie.

One of these days we are going to the drive in movies in Ennis. That is about the only way we are getting a movie these days. heh

Love to all!!

C

And now for the baby news

Eva is amazing. I cannot beleive I get to be the mommy of such a beautiful and perfect person. I feel so lucky and totally unworthy. What did I do to deserve her? :D

As for the nuts and bolts of it, she is 11 weeks old Friday. About 13 pounds now....23 inches long. Her hair is still red though it looks like it is getting darker. Her eyes are changing....just not sure to what. They are grey but look like they might be turning brown. Go figure. She started sleeping through the night almost a month ago. WOOHOO!!! She nurses great and I am uberhappy about that. My little family is asleep right now but since I am a nightowl, here I am. I am going to pay for this when my little dumpling wakes up at 6.

Also, tomorrow, the water damage people are coming out to check their moisture trapping contraptions. Turns out the condensation pan on the upstairs ac unit rusted through and RUINED all the new laminate floors in the baby's room. There is a very small amount of damage to the hall and the guest bedroom....they think they can dry it out.....as for Eva's room, there was already mold forming. The ceiling in the office below her room has damage so the subfloor will have to be cut out and the insulation replaced. Lovely. She is back sleeping in our room till it gets put back to rights again.

And I just got her room all nice and pretty too. It figures.

Granny Pam is in town tomorrow. :D We be shopping on Friday. Wooot!

Much love for Cammie

So, Kyle's old roomie Camille has recently found out she has cancer.....and it is a cancer which is not usually found in 31 yr old women. So she has gone on my prayer list. This really sucks. I cannot imagine how I would feel if I were in her shoes. The surgery is Friday. Hopefully everything will go well. They will also be checking on some spots in other places....hopefully they are clear.

Hugs your sweeties,

C

Hey yall! Welcome!

Hi there!!



I started this blog a loooooooooooong time ago (thinking maybe when Kyle and I were planning our wedding and wanted to keep everyone up to speed)....but it never took off, and now here we are, one beautiful baby later. Hopefully I can be better about keeping up. :D So stick around. Hopefully I can think of something witty and funny to say. :D



~*~Candice~*~