Wish you were here...

We miss you everyday...



Who would of thunk it? 15 years and we are still the bestest friends!

We all have a story... (March for Babies)

My story: Lillie Marie Henry born 1-20-08, 36 weeks gestation, 2 pounds 15 ounces 16 inches, small for gestational age due to undiagnosed preeclampsia.
Phoebe Belle Henry born 38 weeks gestation. Healthy pregnancy and short stay in special care nursery because of amniotic fluid in lungs. On CPAP for 3 days. 6 lbs 15 ounces 19 1/2 in long!
Phoebe today!
Lillie at her first March for Babies. She was a Miracle of Mercy with some of her NICU friends.
Lillie loves to fundraise!
Lillie Marie today! Our healthy happy funny independent 3 year old!

So it is our favorite time of the year...
March for Babies!!!!

This year I planned on hosting what would of been our annual (but now will become semi-annual) chili cookoff. Of course with the new baby I have realized that this is just not going to happen. I can barely handle cooking dinner lately.

But, I have come up with a new idea. And it involves you. Yes, YOU!

So here it goes...

During my pregnancy with Phoebe I have come to realize that everyone has a story. And.. They are all different but all equally important.

I have spoke to many friends that have had babies born too early because of

PROM, HELLP, Preeclampsia, pregnancy induced hypertension, preterm labor...

and on and on and on...

No matter what the story we all have one thing in common, our little miracles.

So here is what I am asking..

JOIN OUR TEAM!

Maybe you don't even have kids...

Maybe you share my story or a family member's story.

Maybe you know the importance of March of Dimes and healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.

So if you want to be a member (one of our peeps) send me an email.

SHENRY9976@gmail.com and I will tell you how to join (here's the link if you want to figure it out on your own.)

I am looking for at least 10 friends to commit to raising $100 each by May 1st.

Are you in?

Please let me know soon so we can get together and talk. I would like to plan a little get together for team members next week.

Feel free to share your story here in the comments or post it on the team page.

Our goal is to raise $1000 by May 1st!

Here's some info about March for Babies and the March of Dimes.

This could be a great way to reunite with old and keep up with new ones.

Hope to hear from you soon.

The first week home...

Today Phoebe is 10 days old!
So far all she does is sleep, eat, poop.
She sleeps 23 out of 24 hours in a day. I try to wake her up and she goes back to sleep. At night she wakes up every 1 or 2 hours to eat small meals. I am trying to get her to eat more in one setting then to just "snack".
She had her first bath. She didn't like it so much.

I think she is getting bigger. She has an appointment on Friday so we will see. She had her first check up last Friday and she weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces. That is lower than her birth weight (6 pounds 15 ounces) but higher than her weight the last day at the hospital (6 pounds 5 ounces). Weight is something I obsess over with my kids after having scrawny Lillie.
Even though we have only been home for a week, Phoebe has been out and about.
Her first outing was last wednesday. We took her to Church for dinner and so Lillie could see her friends. Thursday we took the girls to the park. Our new double stroller is awesome!
This picture isn't from the park but Phoebe's first trip to Bricktown.

She went bowling for Jorge's birthday.

We are trying to get used to having a newborn. Of course I had Draven as a newborn but that was FOREVER ago. And then when we had Lillie she was in the hospital the first month. We would see her during the day and then go home and sleep 8 hours straight. So having a real newborn home for us is a change. Something we are still trying to figure out even though we have 3 kids. I have just figured out that I don't have to hold her all the time. She actually is perfectly content in her swing.

I never thought that I could be so in love with someone that pees, poops, throws up, and screams at me all night...
But I do!
I love this Lil' Dude.
Yes, we still call her Lil' Dude.
That's all for now. Good night for the Henry's! Or should I say "Night". I don't know how good it will be. But we are just glad to have her home.

My Montage 3/18/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

phobe belle the first few days... born 3-11-11 6 pounds 15 ounces 19 1/2 inches.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wheezy...

Kinda funny that Chris and I were already calling Phoebe "Wheezy" before she was born. Mainly because we liked the name Louise but didn't like the nickname "Wheezy". Of course now... That's her nickname (at least for now.) We are still thinking of middle names for her. Here's what we have so far...

Phoebe Belle (after my grandmother)

Phoebe Fox (Chris' dad's nickname)

Phoebe Hanes (Chris' dad's middle name)

Phoebe Louise (because we like calling her Wheezy)

I guess we better come up with a name soon!

If you read my last post you might of noticed I wasn't (and still am not) happy with the way they are handling things here. They just aren't set up or trained for a baby with special care needs. I know how important it is for her to be touched and held by her mother. They don't even have a rocking chair in their nursery. The cords are so short I can barely hold her on my lap. They are definitely too short for me to hold her on my shoulder. The nursing staff seems put out by the fact that we are even there.

So to sum it up....

We are going to talk to the neonatologist and pediatrician tomorrow about her condition. If they think she is going to require special care for a few more days then we are going to have her transferred to a hospital that knows how to deal with these types of situations.

Chris and Courtney just went in to the nursery to see the baby and once again the staff was put out. They said that they prefer a "hands off mode" for babies.

Ugh. For all of you NICU mom's that read my blog you know what B.S. this is.

Idiots.

baby...

Of course, I’m crying. Yes, I’m emotional. But… I am also mad and frustrated. Phoebe was born 3-11-11 at 1:23 pm via scheduled c section. All was going fine and as planned. I went in to the operating room and met the anesthesiologist. He was running late and his cell phone kept ringing. Slot machine ringtone. I was annoyed. I didn’t get a good vibe. I asked him about the chance of the anesthesia not working. Was there a back up plan? He looked at me like I was crazy.

Surgery started and they discovered that Phoebe was higher than they expected. They had to grab and push her from up higher than expected. I started to scream. The anesthesia only worked from the incision down. Everything above that I could feel. No numbness. Just excruciating pain. I screamed while they pulled the baby out. The doctors stopped operating and told the anesthesiologist to get me some knock out pain med. Too little too late. While I was screaming they brought the baby over to me so I could touch her tiny foot. Phoebe looked and sounded great. She weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and is 19 ½ inches long with strawberry blonde fuzz.

Then it went black.

I looked forward to having a normal birth. I wanted to hold her naked baby body against my chest. I wanted to breast fed. I wanted to give her kisses. But, no. I passed out and she got wheeled off to “special care.” They don’t have a NICU here. They talked about moving her to another hospital but luckily she was able to stay here. She was born with amniotic fluid in her lungs. Usually this gets pushed out during delivery. She was having trouble breathing so she had to be put on a cpap machine. She is still on it today and will be for the next day or two.

Once again, my baby is in someone else’s care. I couldn’t see her or touch her.

The next day (today) I got to see her. I still can’t hold her or feed her. I did start pumping breast milk today that will be fed to her by feeding tube. I think things would be different if we were at Mercy. These nurses act like we are a nuisance when we want to visit.

I feel like she’s not mine. The nursery staff is awful. I am going up there at 4pm today to hold her for the first time. I have my emotions in check now. Just let me hold my beautiful Phoebe Fox.

I plan on having Chris take a lot of pictures tonight when I get to hold my new Lil' Girl.

Just a guess...

Ok, so I guess that wasn't my last pregnancy post. Here's another.

I forgot to make my pregnancy predictions.

Here they are.

7 pounds 1 ounce.

20" long.

10 fingers 10 toes.

Bald like Lillie.

Cute as a bug, but funny lookin' as all new babies are.

Born at 3-11-11 at 1:32 pm (Lillie was born at 1:32 am.)

Here's a picture of Lillie at 1 day old so I have something to compare to tomorrow.

p.s. I plan on posting from the hospital.

Everybody is getting ready...

I had my last appointment on Monday. All was well. Baby has dropped, which is exciting but doesn't really matter.
Blood pressure was fine. Doesn't really matter.
Talked about game day.
It is on for Friday at 1pm.
Getting nervous.
Scared.
Can't sleep.
Baby kicks and hiccups all night.
Can't eat.
Reflux all night.
Sad that this will probably be the last time I am ever pregnant.
I took my last belly pictures.
Maybe ever.
Since I know the day and time of her big arrival I am a bit too organized.
I have a list of things to do, pack, and buy. I just about have all the things done. We knocked a few things off the list today. Lillie and I got our nails done, I got my eyebrows waxed, and Tucker got groomed. Chris sister and Mom went and bought our sit and stand stroller and car seat. Lillie has her clothes laid out for Friday and bags packed for Nanny's house. The cleaning lady is coming Thursday to dust and do the floors.
Whew! I'm tired just thinking about what I still have to do and what I have already done.

My last belly pictures at 37 weeks.
That belly button is ready to go back to being an innie.

Lillie has been loving on Lil' Dude a lot! Lots of kisses and hugs to my belly. She has also been reading "Big Sister" every night before bed. She's ready!
We went and got our nails done.
She met a friend that had her nails painted pink and green so Lillie got the same.
And Tucker had to get ready too! He is staying at Aunt Gum's house. He wanted to have a short "do" for Lil' Dude's arrival.

That's it. We are ready. Of course... You can never be ready. But we are as ready as we can get.

The next post just might contain pictures of a new baby!

Oh, and we picked out a name.....

We will post it with her photos!

one more week!

Well the good news is that baby is doing great!
I went in for a non stress test on Wednesday since my blood pressure was up on Monday. For whatever reason it was 135/100. My normal is 100/60. Since I had some serious issues with the last pregnancy my doctor has been watching me very closely. She didn't like my number spiking like that. With rest, my blood pressure seems to be back down to normal. Go figure. The only problem is... I can't rest.
I know I only have one more week but I am so extremely uncomfortable I can't stand it.
I can't sleep.
Can't eat (much) thanks to the indigestion. I get it from just drinking water!
My back is killing me.
I can't get comfortable at night.
Lil' Dude is moving nonstop. I feel like she is trying to break out of here.
I can't breathe.
I know it wasn't this hard with Lillie. Of course we had other MAJOR issues.
And Draven's pregnancy was so long ago I forgot!
Anyway... My point is.
I'm ready.
One week is soon, but not soon enough!