Giving Thanks Challenge ~ {Day #6}

Thanksgiving Challenge ~ Day #6

Topic: Noelle
Title: Lock Down

{If you are new to this challenge~which is not your typical Thanksgiving challenge, you can catch up on the details here, and please feel free to join along at any time...}

We just recently completed our first month of lock down {explained here}; and I must say that it was not what I thought it might be.  I pictured long days and dedicated play time.  I imagined lots of extra snuggles and reading books together.  Of course a spotless home, a plethora of baking and cooking, time to write, and so much more was on the list as well.  Some of these things have happened, but usually not the way I dreamed or planned.  Cooking dinner is a regular occurrence {and a mostly enjoyable one after months in the hospital and weeks of "quick" cooking in between doctor appointments}; sweet snuggles happen often, although I can never have enough of those; and we certainly have more play time than ever before.  But in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and seeing the tragedy that so many have experienced, I am reminded even more to be grateful for this lock down period.  Many in that situation would love to trade places with me, to be required to stay in their home, to have the ability to cook dinner once again for their family, to wash loads of laundry, to scrub the toilet, to do the "mundane."  It will happen again.  They will move on and rebuild and create a new normal, but their lives will never be the same, both for bad and good; and the road to that new normal will be long and hard.  So today, as I am confined to my home with my sweet miracle baby, I am grateful for this mandatory period in our lives and the "mundane" that I so often take for granted and sometimes, ashamedly, even complain. I am thankful for the help I have received in the form of my mom picking up groceries and running errands.  I am excited my husband has a good job and is able to be in class, finishing his degree and endeavoring to provide well for us.  I am glad to still be allowed to vote via an absentee ballot.  And I am especially enjoying my opportunity to hold a precious little girl and have an "excuse" to be with her all day long.  Life could not be sweeter.

If you are local and would like to help a relief project for New Jersey this week, please check out this page and do what you can to assist this effort. 

***Do not forget there are less than two weeks left to submit your entry for the book project for Noelle's birthday.  You can read about the project and the deadline by clicking here .  We are enjoying the submissions we have already received but would love to hear from you, if you are willing to participate.  Thank you so much for helping us make Noelle's first birthday a special time of remembrance!!***

Ten Months Old

~Ten Months Old~

I just cannot believe that our baby girl is ten months old today ~ it hardly seems possible!!  The changes continue to amaze us, and we are soaking up every wonderful minute with our little blessing.  Our first week of lock down was a delightful change of pace with no doctor appointments (the first week with no appointments since early June!); and we kicked off this period with a special visit from Noelle's Auntie Kari and Auntie Barbie.  Noelle absolutely loved the company and all the extra attention and snuggles, and I enjoyed the sweet fellowship during the few short days they were here.  Unfortunately, Noelle's reflux flared pretty badly again this past weekend, so we moved up one of her doctor appointments by a couple of days to today.  Her medication has been weight adjusted thus far, so this flare up was evidence that she had outgrown her dose and was in need of a new calculation.  Thankfully, her pediatrician was able to put her on the maximum dose possible (now that she is big enough); and we are all hopeful that this new dose will improve the situation so that we may get more positive results on the sleep study next week.  The added benefit to today's appointment was that we were able to see how much weight she has gained, and she weighed 9lbs. 15oz.  That is the closest she has ever come to averaging 1 lb. / month, and I was excited to see her progress.  The rest of this post will be in pictures, but I am hoping to post more regularly again once we have a chance to get past our appointments this week and really settle into our routine of being at home all the time.  These coming months are going to be quite fun as this little girl makes us laugh in new ways every day; and we continue to thank God for your many prayers as we take one day at a time, seeking to wade through this time period in the healthiest way possible.

 Ten Month Activities

~Sitting up with a little boppy help!~

~A New Friend...~

~Helping Daddy Read~

~A little someone figured out that there are bows on her helmet...~

~Meeting Auntie Kari for the first time~

~Playing with Mommy's chin~

~Saying "See You Soon" to Auntie Kari...~

~....and to Aunt Barbie too~

Lock Down Commences

~I finally graduated to a "big girl" towel!!~

We officially began lock down today, although we actually began limiting our outings a week ago to those only absolutely necessary.  While we have been careful since we last discharged from the hospital, we have been allowed certain activities such as church attendance, grocery shopping (during week days at non-busy times), and similar things that did not involve large crowds.  With the arrival of October and the cooler weather, Noelle is now allowed to go to doctor appointments only, and we must keep her home the rest of the time for the next six months.  When they first explained this to me a few months ago, I was certainly willing to do it; but I was also dreading it a bit.  Six months seemed like a very long time, especially since I had been keeping her home ever since we discharged from the NICU; and I knew that even once the six months was completed, we would have to slowly begin introducing public activities again and could not just immediately resume a "normal" life.  However, as this time approached, I began to look forward to it and am actually thankful that it has arrived.  It will bring a certain amount of logistical challenges; but while I know that her health is ultimately in God's sovereign hands, it just feels more safe to be confined to home during this season when so many people become sick.  We are very hopeful that if she can do well (without setbacks) through this season, then next summer will be a different story altogether.  We have not forgotten that we still need to complete the sleep study and demonstrate improvement; but after talking with more members of her medical team and finding out further details of this past sleep study, we truly believe that she will not be receiving the tracheotomy that the ENT specialist thought she needed.  Improvement in her oxygen saturation levels has also continued in the past several weeks, and I am very thankful for my mom who has now moved here and is a tremendous help and blessing as we seek to do everything physically possible to aid Noelle's reflux issues (and consequently affect the upcoming sleep study results).  The nerves will still come as we approach that moment, but we continue to find great comfort in the fact that God has already planned our coming days.  As we close September and begin this new season, we had many blessings this past month of which I will share a few.  Thank you for your many continued prayers for our sweet miracle baby!!

~I just rolled over again!!~

September Blessings

~ Noelle began to roll over

~ We packed up nearly all the newborn clothes and began the transition to 3 month clothes

~ We have heard a couple of giggles now, and a full laugh is just under the surface

~ Noelle graduated from speech therapy 

~My mom (Noelle's snuggle buddy) now lives here

~Aunt Julie, Gigi, and G-Pa all came to visit

....and my very favorite:

~We reached the point of being at home for as many days as we have spent in the hospital this year!!!