I will soon be returning

Very soon I will be returning from my blog hiatus from this site. I have decided that Haley's carepages must come to an end some day and there's no better time than her first birthday. I will be able to still keep everyone informed on her progress and all hers and Jacob's milestones on this site. In just 8 days we will be celebrating Haley's first birthday! Just as with Jacob it is bittersweet for me. I'm so proud of both of them for all they have learned and endured. I'm excited that they are growing up. I am also sad they are growing up. I wish they could stay innocent and small forever. I don't ever want them to see the bad in this world. I wish they could always have that child like faith. I don't ever want to let go. The thought of Jacob going to school is exciting and scary. I know he'll do great and will be safe but it's hard not to worry.

I plan to post my last carepages update on Haley's birthday which I will also post on here as the transition. I don't know how many of our readers on carepages will want to continue to follow our family updates but I will offer it. Please pray for no rain on Saturday, it's Haley's party and I really want a beautiful day where we can be outside and just enjoy our little miracle!

Life after the NICU and March for Babies

It has been a long time since I've posted on here. Most of you have followed Haley's story on her Carepages site. So I will keep this brief. Haley is doing so well. She is now 13 lbs 5 oz! She eats baby cereal and some veggies. She's tried peas, green beans, and carrots so far. She loved them all! She really enjoys eating and is so easy to feed unlike Jacob was. Jacob was an easy kid for most things but eating was always tough. Haley is a good eater, but the rest of the stuff is tough with her. We will be trying sleep training very soon. I'm borrowing a book from a friend and I really hope it works for her. She's been getting much better at night and is only up a 1 or 2 times now ( but still has those nights where she's up ever 2 hours too so nothing is really consistant yet ). Her napping has not been good at all though. I know I need to get her sleeping in her own room in her crib and that will help because Jacob wont wake her up but then she gets scared when she wakes up and no one is around. We'll get it figured out eventually. This weekend was the March for Babies. It was hot but no rain so it was good. We all made it the full 6 miles although some were doubtful. Haley only cried for the last 1/2 mile probably from being hot and hungry. Here are a few pictures from the walk.

precious pictures

While Haley was in the NICU the March of Dimes arranged to have a photographer come in and take pictures of who ever wanted to have their baby's pictures taken. We were so excited and the pictures came out great. It's hard to believe she was once that small ( actually smaller ). This first one if my favorite by far. I love how she is looking up at me.

Kangaroo care ( skin to skin holding ) was so important for Haley's development. It helped her to relax and it helped us bond. Dan was even able to do it and he enjoyed it as well. Our body heat kept her warm while she was away from her heated incubator.

peeking at mommy


Love


Tiny feet

Stop signs
Stop signs is a term used a lot in the NICU. We attended a class on reading our preemies signals. Stop signs are an important one. It's how the baby tells us they have had enough or are over stimulated. It means stop and leave me a lone for a while. Haley used hers a lot. She was a trouble maker in the NICU. She actually earned the nick name Houdini. She was always trying to get the CPAP and leads and feeding tube out and rolling around in the incubator. Her fiestiness got her out of there in 5 weeks. I don't think anyone expected that.

Haley Joy

Haley Joy. Born 9/25/08 29 weeks and 5 days. 2 lbs 9.6 oz 15 in. She only spent 35 days in the NICU. 1/2 the amount of time we were told to expect!

not posting for a while

I will not be posting on here for a while. We have a special site for Haley where I will post updates. It is privacy protected. Dan and I appreciate all the prayers for Haley and if you want to have access to the site just send me your email address and I'll send you the invite. I think you have to join or something after your first visit so you can keep coming back. My mom had a little trouble so if you have trouble feel free to email me and I'll see if I can help you figure it out. It's a site the march of dimes helped us with and we wanted some we knew that we could control who was seeing and reading. Keep praying. It will still be quite sometime before we can bring our daughter home.

a cry for help!

Please has anyone ever experienced bad swelling in pregnancy? As of now, blood pressure is ok so I am just trying to find things I can do to get it to go away! I put my feet up most of the day, drink 1 gallon of water, try not to eat too much salt, and try to get some exercise but not too much. My mom thought maybe some kind of tea might help but we don't know if there is any kind that would be best. If you have any magic tricks please tell me. When I get up in the morning ( which is backwards from how it should be ) I am so huge and sore I just can't take it much longer. I sat with ice on my legs last night, but no help. Thanks.

looking back

5 years ago Dan and I celebrated one of the best days of our lives. Actually 5 years ago tomorrow but I doubt I'll have time to blog. It's hard to believe we've been married for 5 years already. So much has changed too. We have moved twice since then. We had our apartment which we only lived in for 6 months, then our house in croydon where we lived for 3 years and our current home. We adopted our first dog after about 8 months of marriage whom we loved for 1 year before he passed away suddenly. We then adopted our second dog Toby whom we are loving every day with. We had out first baby, Jacob. I can't imagine my life with out him. Now we are expecting our second bundle of joy and we just can't wait to see what this little on will add to our family. We've had good times and bad times. We've grown so much as a couple. I still get butterflies all the time. Through it all I wouldn't change a thing.

It's been a great 5 years. I can't believe it's been 5 years. I have been blessed with an amazing husband who is also a wonderful father to Jacob.

I'll never forget how it felt 5 years ago when we said our vows. I'll never forget the way we looked at each other and how happy we were on that day. I'll never forget because it's all still there. I'm more in love with Dan and he still looks at me as if we just started dating.

Thank you for a great 5 years. I can't wait to see what God has in store for the next 5 and beyond!