New Year Wish

Monday, February 28, 2011

March for Babies Monday: Signs of preterm labor

When you are pregnant you never expect your baby to come early.  You have a vision in your mind of a healthy 7lb+ baby and going home with that sweet little baby.  You here stories of people who had preemies and most likely know someone who has had a preemie.  According to March of Dimes, 1 in 8 babies is born before 37 weeks.

Here is a list of preterm labor signs from the March of Dimes website

  • Contractions every 10 minutes or more often
  • Change in vaginal discharge
  • Pelvic pressure
  • Low, dull backache
  • Cramps that feel like your period
  • Abdominal cramps with or without diarrhea









My first pregnancy was going so smoothly.  I had no complaints or complications.  Each doctor's visit was a breeze.  I was working full-time and had no restrictions.  Then one Sunday I was just feeling uncomfortable.  I spent the day shopping with my mom and kept having to stop and take a breath.  We went to lunch and I just could not eat anything.  We figured the baby was just in a funny spot or on a nerve.  I went home to rest and then I kept getting a crampy pain every so often.  I remember I kept reaching for my "What to Expect When You are Expecting" book and reading about preterm labor.  Not likely.  This isn't happening to me.  Yeah right.  For one hour I timed my pains every ten minutes. I called my sister who was also pregnant and she said to call our doctor.   I did and he advised to drink a large glass of water and lay on my left side.  If it doesn't stop in an hour we want you to come down to the hospital and get checked.  Well about 30 minutes later it was not getting better but worse and my crampy pains were about every 5 minutes.  So we head to the hospital.  Once there I was hooked up to a monitor and was indeed having contractions every five minutes and they figured I was dehydrated so an IV was started to pump lots of fluids in me.  They decided to do a quick check before sending me home (what the nurse said would most likely happen because this happens often to women who get dehydrated) and when they did they found I was 6 cm dilated and in active labor and I was 30 weeks pregnant.  We were quickly moved into a delivery room and I was giving a shot of steroids for the baby's lungs and a dose of Magnesium Sulfate to stop the contractions.  I was also told I could not get out of bed until the baby was born and they were going to try and stop labor and keep me on bed rest and monitored until that time came.  This was around midnight and just a few hours later my water ruptured and we were told the baby would have to be born.  At 10am Brendan came crying into the world at 3lbs 6oz ready to start his life.  We have no explanation why he was born early or why I went into preterm labor.  We are just thankful that we knew the signs and were able to get to the hospital in time for the birth of our son.


 

Friday, February 25, 2011

New headbands

Top: Teal Zebra, Middle: Brown leopard, Bottom: Blue Hydrangea

Top: Black/White Polka dot, Bottom: Black Polka dot/zebra

Top: Purple Gem, Bottom: Hot Pink Gem

Top: Mini Purple, Middle: Light Purple Sparkle, Bottom: Rose Gem

Top: Yellow Rose, Middle (unavailable) Bottom: Royal Gem

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Stylish Blogger Award

My friend, Janelle, over at Pink Hippo Boutique tagged me for a Stylish Blogger award!  Thank you so much!  It it my very first award!

There are rules that go along with receiving the award.
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award. 
2. Share 7 things about yourself. 
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers. (I'm new to blogging so I'll tag those that I read most often)
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!


Seven things about me
1. I'm obsessed with the Harry Potter series.  I reread them over and over.
2. I'm the mom to an almost kindergarten student.  Just signed him up this morning!
3. I cry at almost everything.
4. I have a weird addiction to La Croix sparkling water
5. I love to watch old reruns of the Golden Girls
6. I am also slightly obsessed with Teen Mom 2
7. I love to be crafty and make things


The bloggers I nominate
Kylie Marie
La La Land
The Life We Love
The Domestic Wannabe
Fannin Family
Simply Smithwick
Live.Love.Laugh

Monday, February 21, 2011

Custom flower

I recently made this funky flower for a sweet little girl in Lila's parent/child class.  I love mixing prints and the bit of sparkle is so fun.

March for Babies Monday: Video

This video was created a couple of years ago for a local March of Dimes event.  It showcases a lot of local babies and I absolutely fell in love with it when I saw it.  These images express why we walk better than any words I could ever use.




Take a few minutes and watch.  Believe me...you will need a few tissues by the end.


http://www.marchforbabies.org/BrendanPaul

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Sneak peek

Here is a little sneak peek of some of my new items! 

The center two lines are new ribbon clippies and flower clips

Embellished ribbon clippies

more ribbon clippies
This board is for my friend to take to a mom2mom sale this weekend and try and sell some of my blossoms and clippies.  Stayed tuned...next week I will have some awesome pictures of my new headbands I have been working on.

Monday, February 14, 2011

March for Babies Monday: Story of our name

Our family team name was so easy to pick.  My sister always called Brendan a "superbaby" because of how healthy and strong he was from the get go.  He never required any oxygen other than a little right after he was brought to the NICU and thrived better than we expected.  He only needed to learn to eat and grow bigger to be able to go home.  We were absolutely in awe each and every day.  His lungs were fully developed at 10 weeks early.  It was a miracle.  So the nickname "superbaby" stuck and now our brightly colored t-shirts are worn proudly at March for Babies as we walk for all these precious babies!

Our Superbaby Brendan!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

SuperBaby Brendan

Brendan.  He is an active 5 (FIVE! when did that happen) year old and will be starting kindergarten in the fall.  He loves all sports, Wii, Berenstain Bears books, the Detroit Pistons, Lions, and Tigers, and being silly.  He knows how to make us laugh and says the funniest things all the time.  He never slows down and I'm not sure he knows how to walk.  He runs!  He's a great big brother and Lila lights up when she sees him.  He's confident and smart.  He is definitely a mommy's boy and says things like, " I love you one million." and every night he prays, "Dear God.  Thank you for mommy, daddy, and lila. Amen."



He is our miracle baby.  The baby that just was too busy to cook for nine months.  The baby that was "done" with being on the inside and wanted out.  He came into the world pink and screaming which is normal except he was 10 weeks early.  We were prepared for a baby that was not breathing and a baby that would be whisked away immediately to the NICU without us seeing him.  That is what the doctors told us.  Instead we were surprised to see this teeny little guy looking at us and breathing well on his own.  We even held him before he was whisked away.  I remember my doctor saying, "Well this is a surprise."  He was even able to surprise both grandmas by having his eyes open and looking at them.  He continued to thrive and needed no oxygen his entire stay.  He passed every test with flying colors.  He was the exception to every preemie rule.  He came home after only 31 days in the NICU.  He was only 34 weeks and 4 pounds.

It wasn't until over a year later that what actually happened started to set in.  We were blessed with this healthy little guy and then when he was just over one he ended up in the hospital on oxygen for four days.  He had pneumonia and his lungs just couldn't handle it.  One night the Respiratory Tech came in to administer his breathing treatment.  She said we looked familiar and I told her he was a preemie and had been born the year before was in the NICU. 
She said, "Now I remember!  He was a 30 weeker and never needed oxygen."

I said, "That's right."

She goes, "I always remember the little ones that just don't need it.  30 weekers are either really good or really bad."

Then it hit me.  It could have been so much worse.  I prayed that we were blessed with this healthy baby and I prayed for all the babies who needed extra help to thrive.  I think to this day I am still in awe of the situation.  The NICU is unlike any other place when you have a new little baby.  The feelings you get when you are discharged and you leave empty handed or when you have to say goodnight to your baby and leave for the night and then wondering if they will call you to come back.

This is why I walk.  So many babies are born every day too soon and many women do not know why they go into labor.  I don't.  I had an easy pregnancy and then just went into labor.  It is so unexpected and scary.  I want to help give all babies their nine months.  Even babies born just a few weeks early are at risk.  We have walked as "Team Superbaby" since 2006.  We have raised thousands of dollars to help babies and walked many many miles for these babies. Last year Brendan walked all three miles!  Our team continues to grow each year and we are so blessed that so many family members walk with us.
Team Superbaby 2006

Our team tshirts and logo!

Our second walk

Team Superbaby 2007
Our third walk
                                     
Team Superbaby 2008

Team Superbaby 2009

Our fifth walk plus Lila's first...our full term baby! 

Team Superbaby 2010

Please consider donating for this special cause and help us give babies their nine months!

Every Monday until the walk I will post "March for Babies Monday" with information about our team and March of Dimes!  Stayed tuned for a "Blossoms for Babies" fundraiser!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Pink Hippos Giveaway

My friend is hosting a giveaway for a personalized dress or tshirt.  These little dresses are so adorable and I hope to win one for Lila! 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Trunk Show

Recently I was invited to participate in a friend's trunk show party.  This was a very first for me and I was so excited to make lots of different styles of flowers and headbands.  It was a fun experience!  Here are some of my favorites from the night.












You can email me at buttonblossoms@yahoo.com or check out my facebook page, Button Blossoms and friend me for pricing info!  These are all for sale and great to stock up for spring/summer!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Pink Ballerina

My cousin had asked me if I could make her two daughters a ballet-inspired flower clip for them to wear to dance class and then their recital.  She saw some of my polka dot flowers and asked if I had them in pink.  After a quick search I was able to find some super cute pink polka dot flowers.  I love them.  They are so pretty and perfect for adorable ballerinas!

My two variations of Pink Ballerina.