I know, I know...it's been forever!

So, I've been a bit busy!! Mom and Dad were in Florida for two weeks and while they were away, we planned a surprise Work Day! I think we bit off a little bit more than we could chew. It was a BIG JOB!

I'm going to put a slide show on the page, so you can see all that we did.

First of all, Sean, Denise, Cameron, Beth Mellinger, Tim and I cleaned out the Garage on Friday. That was a big job! We took 3 truck loads to the dump and our Pop found someone (who turned out to be our cousin) to take away the old riding mower AND OUR VAN! There is NO LONGER A VAN IN THE DRIVEWAY!! That was SO exciting!!!!!

Sean, Denise, Janelle, Cameron, Tim and I along with 28 people from Living Hope went to Mom and Dad's on Saturday, April 19th..and worked all day!

We took 10 truckloads to the compost center...removed limbs and cut back all the bushes...cleaned out the flowerbeds...planted new flowers...washed all the windows, inside and out...cleaned all of the downstairs, I'm talking Denise Teaman clean.

We used toothbrushes, scrub brushes. MAGIC ERASERS ARE AWESOME! Denise used them on most of the walls!!!

We cleaned out the fridge and the freezers! The chest freezer is EMPTY except for the meals that WONDERFUL ladies in our church provided my family with!!!

We cleaned out the Patio, re-screened and painted! Ken Mellinger bought a NEW DOOR and Sean and Cameron spent hours getting it in.

The Laundry room, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen and Family Rooms were cleaned from Top to Bottom. All the curtains were washed, ironed and hung. All the floors, walls and baseboards were washed. This was a true spring cleaning!!

We didn't get that all done in one day, which was the original plan. We all put in hours during the week...finishing up unfinished projects. But, we were so happy to do it. Our goal was that when Mom and Dad got home, their "to-do" list would be a little bit shorter. I hope we accomplished that!!

Here's a few pictures till I get the slide show up.

This Post is dedicated to Kendra Sue Herr!!!!! :)

Nora's NICU Days 3-7

April 6, 2006

3 lb. 5.7 oz

Today, Nora finally came of her intravenous antibiotics!! Unfortunatley that IV has to stay. It was so bothersome! Her veins were so tiny, that they would easily collapse, so they had to move it constantly! It went from right foot to left arm, to left foot...the hardest was when they had to put it in her head, because she had no other available veins. We are ready for the IV to go!

Here's the first time I held Nora - 36 hours after she was born!

April 7, 2006
3 lbs. 4.8 oz.

Today was a hard day. I had to prepare to leave the hosptial without Nora. They finally took me of my IV and I was able to walk without that annoying IV pole!! Much of the day was spent crying and in unbelief that I could leave her behind.

We finally got a picture of Daddy holding Nora

There's the Pesky IV in her arm

April 8, 2006
3 lb. 5 oz.

Nora's weight finally started going back UP! We were so happy she's starting to gain weight!
Today, I went home. The day was full of tears. I felt like I was being torn apart. All I wanted to do was stay by her side.

Here we are saying Goodbye to our little Nora

My Living Hope Family gave me a baby shower today! It had been planned for this date, but no one expected Nora to already be here! It was such a blessing and so hard at the same time. God blessed me richly as my sister's in Christ prayed for Nora, Tim and I. Their prayers and words of wisdom and encouragement were what my heart needed. I guess God knew that ahead of time too!!! :)

April 9, 2006
3 lb. 6.1 oz.

Today was my 27th birthday! What a birthday present I received this year!!! It was a pretty uneventful day. Usually, we celebrate big! Brian and I have the same birthday, so we've done things like trips to Philly, Philly's baseball games, concerts...etc. :) Today we stayed close to home. We went to dinner and went to the hospital. We realize now, that was just the beginning of our daily rituals of driving back and forth from the hospital!!!

April 10, 2006
3 lb. 7.2 oz.

Today we found out that Nora was having problems remembering to breath, which then resulted in her heart rate dropping. It was scary, being the first real medical issue since she was born. They decided to give her caffeine, which somehow helps her to remember to breath. The monitors go off REGULARLY while we hold her. We usually just jostle her and she remembers to breathe and then everything is fine. Occasionally the nurses rush us. Tim did really well with all this. He stayed calm, but every alarm sent MY nerves haywire!

Nora's 2nd Day in the NICU

April 5, 2006

Weight - 3lb. 8.1 oz.

Today we found out that Nora was able to breathe on her own! She didn't need oxygen through a C-PAP! This was GREAT news, because staying on oxygen can cause other health problems! Praise God!

A few weeks before Nora was born, they gave me injections of steroids to help Nora's lungs develope more quickly. At the time, they thought I was going into pre-term labor (for totally unconnected reasons from why I ACTUALLY went into labor). So after 48 hours, they sent us home saying they were wrong. To say the least, we weren't happy and didn't understand why they gave me steroids if they weren't sure!!!

NOW we understood that God had a bigger plan. He KNEW when Nora was coming, and He provided the means to give her good strong lungs at 32 weeks gestation!!

This was also a great day, because Mommy and Daddy got to finally hold Nora Sabella!!!

Daddy got to hold her at 3:30 PM - which I was absolutely OBLIVIOUS to! So, sadly we don't have any pictures of that momentous occasion, since I was in bed, not in the NICU.

By early evening, I was beginning to come out of my fog. I was very emotional, because I had seen Nora only once since she was born (36 hours had passed). My nurse wheeled me to a shower and helped me as I passed out, IN THE SHOWER. Thankfully I was sitting! I was so nervous that they wouldn't let me see her after that, but thankfully, they understood my need to see my daughter.

I was able to hold her for the first time at 9:00 PM, 36 hours after she was born. It was amazing to hold this teeny, tiny baby in my arms. Amazing that we weren't "ready" for her to be here, yet here she was.

It was already obvious to us that God was at work in Nora's life, as well as our own. There was a baby in the NICU that was born on the same day as Nora, for the same reasons, at the same gestational age. He was more 1 1/2 lbs. SMALLER than Nora. He was on the C-Pap and his parents rarely were in to see him. He had almost no physical touch.

We were (and still are!) so thankful to God that he provided Nora's body with strength and weight. That he caused her lungs to be mature and to work on their own! That we were able to touch her and hold her, to make that connection with her, even if it was once a day. God was already building faith in our hearts for the days to come.

(I'll add pictures when my husband puts our HARD DRIVE back in the computer!!!!)

Nora's Birth Day

...Throughout the night, Nurses and Doctors came in my room continuously! It was all a fuzz to me...but I remember clearly around 5:00 all the nurses on duty and 2 Doctors were in my room. It scared me awake! Here's a timeline of the rest of our day...

5:00

Tim and I wake to find our room full of Doctors and Nurses -

-Dr. Long and Dr. Manning both decided that it was time to have this baby. So, they mentioned that it was time to induce my labor.

- Upon hearing this...I quickly mentioned that I was pretty sure my baby was breach. So, upon checking with an ultrasound, Dr. Long said...we are going to have this baby in 1/2 an hour!!!

7:00

Tim quickly called both sets of parents to let them know that I was already in the OR getting prepared for an Emergency C-Section. My parents were already getting ready, but were surprised to learn that I was having my baby NOW!!! They had to drive 45 minutes to get to us, so we weren't able to see them beforehand to explain everything.

8:00

By this time, Tim's Mom was at the hospital and our Pastor, Ken had already been there. He had tried to catch Tim before entering the OR, but just missed him. I felt so bad for Tim, knowing he was scared and all alone at the same time. Thankfully, he got to catch his Mom before coming into the OR. God really sustained him and gave him strength during this time.

After prepping for surgery, I found myself alone (besides all the nurses and doctors) in the OR getting ready for my spinal. I think the thought of the spinal injection scared me, more than the surgery itself! But, the nurses were great, they supported me, calmed me and told me that this was the best Anesthesiologist in the hospital. He had in fact done her spinal for her C-Section. I don't know if it was true, but it instantly calmed me down. :)

9:00

Before I knew it, Tim was by my side, and I could see only him. I couldn't believe this was happening!

9:02

After what felt like just 2 minutes, Dr. Long said..."It's a Girl!!" He gave me 1 second (literally) to see her and whisked her away to the pediatrician. We had a baby girl...and she was SO TINY!!!!!

She weighed 3lb. 9 oz. and was 16 1/2 inches long.

3:30 PM

Daddy FINALLY got to see Nora Sabella in the NICU, while I was totally out of it in my room.

The rest of my day is a blur. I really don't remember anything other than people coming in and out of my room. It wasn't until a few days later, that we found out my Kidney's and Liver were in danger of failing and I was on medication to keep me from having Seizures, as well as Pain Meds.

11:30 PM

I finally got to see my Little Nora Sabella. She was so small, with so many wires and tubes and lights all around her. I wanted to hold her, but could only sit and watch her and touch her
little hands. She was BEAUTIFUL!

Here are pictures from that night...

2 Years Ago

On the anniversary of this evening, April 3rd 2006, Tim and I headed to Holy Spirit Hospital.

At 32 weeks pregnant, my blood pressure had continually risen throughout the previous weekend. By 4:18 PM it had risen to 181/107 and after much prodding from my Mom (a blessing from God!), I bugged the OBGYN office until I was able to talk to a Physician!!

Obviously, the doctor said "Get in to the hospital right away!"

We spent many hours, in an observation room beside the nurses station. We'd been here before during this pregnancy...and expected to go home. I wasn't having this baby 2 months early!!!

God had other plans...