Baby Harper Prayer Request

Sorry, guys! I know I promised a new post with awards and such, but when I was reading all my blogs this morning, I got some bad news.

One of the blogs that I read, Kelly's Korner, is about a couple in Arkansas who had been expecting their first child, a baby girl who they had named Harper. Kelly (the mom) went past her due date, and was induced on Friday morning. Baby Harper was born Friday night, but she is having some heart and lung problems and was Life-flighted from Fayetteville to St. Francis here in Tulsa.

For more about Harper's birth and journey since, I suggest starting with this post, Harper's Birthday Part 1, and working your way through the newer posts.

Most importantly, please pray for this family. I can't even imagine what they are going through, but having to do it in another city/state must be even harder.

You can also view Kelly's dad's blog for additional updates - http://fbcflippin.blogspot.com/.

90 Days and counting...

I know I'm a little behind on updates, but there hasn't been much to tell. Work, home, attempt to sleep. That's pretty much all I do. I've also attempted a couple of runs, which haven't gone well, so I've decided to stick to walking. I'm hoping to start some prenatal aqua aerobics this week, which will hopefully help with the sleeping and the random aches and pains I've been having.

Yesterday, I hit the 90 day mark. And I have to admit that I had a bit of a freak-out. There is still so much to do, and so much that I'm not ready for! The fact that my child will be here in 3 months (or less) excites me and terrifies me at the same time. I can't wait to meet/hold my son or daughter for the first time (and find out what the heck it is so we can give it a proper name!), but what if we're not ready??? What if I'm no good at it? What if he/she comes early and we don't have all the necessary gear yet? What if I go into labor at work and my husband doesn't make it to the hospital in time? I have so many things going through my head that I could go on all day... I know everything will work out the way God wants it to, but it would be nice to be in on that plan!

Anyway, enough of that! A bit of good news... Randy's step dad is making some good progress. The link to his website is still at the top of my page, and if you go to the "journal" page, you can see all of the updates that have been posted. He's still not out of the woods just yet, but he is in far better shape than he was a week ago. When he is off sedation, he can wake up and respond to verbal requests to wiggle his fingers/toes, but he can only be off the sedation for short periods because he starts to get anxious and his blood pressure goes through the roof. He also still has too much pressure on his brain, so they are talking about putting in a shunt, and he is having some problems with his breathing so they aren't ready to take him off the ventilator yet. He is definitely making progress, but it seems like for every step forward, there is another step back. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers! This will be a difficult journey for Tom, but on the plus side, he is at the hospital where we will be giving birth, so we're starting to learn our way around!

It's time for lunch, and I'm starving, so I'm off for now. I will post again soon so that I can acknowledge and thank Suzi for the awards she has bestowed upon me, and pass them along to other deserving bloggers! I have so many good ones to choose from, so it should be fun!

So much for optimism...

In a matter of hours on Friday, I went from feeling optimistic about the new year to feeling completely helpless. Friday had been such a great day! I had gone to the doctor and everything was going well, I'd gotten a haircut, and after I got home from work, I had a very nice nap! Randy and I were getting ready to leave the house to go to Chili's for dinner (Christmas gift card!), when a bomb was dropped on us.

Randy's step dad had collapsed at home had been rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. The EMSA tech thought it was a stroke. I had a brief moment of freak-out because my grandfather had a stroke in 2002 and didn't survive. But I needed to be strong for Randy. So I start gathering some books and magazines to take to the hospital with us and as we were getting ready to leave, we received another call. The CT scan revealed that it was a ruptured brain aneurysm and Tom's chances didn't look good. We left home fully expecting to arrive at the hospital to say goodbye. However, the pain medication that he had been for the headaches he was having (which he thought were due to a pinched nerve), had luckily not thinned his blood out. The doctors were able to drain the spinal fluid off of his brain Friday night, and then Saturday morning they performed an angiogram to find the bleed, and put in some coils to stop it.

Tom is currently in a coma, but he has remained stable and is making some progress. The next week will be critical because he will likely start to experience vasospasms, and he is also likely to develop pneumonia. The doctor said that on a scale of 1 to 5 (with one being the best) Tom was at a 5.

Please keep Tom, and the rest of Randy's family in your prayers, as this may be a difficult journey.

A family friend has set up a website for updates on Tom's recovery. I have put a link at the top of my blog, if anyone is interested.


Thanks!!

Happy New Year!!

It's the start of a new year, and I'm feeling optimistic. This year has lots of good stuff in store! First and foremost, the birth of our first child - due April 12 - Easter! A few weeks after that (if all goes well) we'll be heading to Hawaii (with Baby in tow) for my hubby's best friend's wedding at the end of May. I've never been to Hawaii, so I can't wait! Hopefully, by the time we get home from Hawaii (or shortly thereafter), I will be cleared by my doctor to start running again, and I will begin training for a fall marathon (preferably Greece in November) and a 50K (Sunmart in December). I don't make resolutions, but I do make goals!

My short term goal, for the next couple of months is to get the baby's room ready. I bought some more stuff today, and I think the room will be so cute! I just have to muster enough energy to actually do it! The room was already painted a yellowish color when we bought the house, and I think it will go pretty well with the bedding we bought, so at least we won't have to paint!

In other baby news, I had an appointment today. Nothing special - just checking the baby's growth and heart beat. So far, so good! We scheduled my one-hour glucose test which will be in 2 weeks, and then my next appointment 2 weeks after that - on Groundhog Day! I'm hoping for an early spring - winter is not fun! So far, I've gained 20 lbs since my first appointment on 9/4 (which puts me at a grand total of... 134!). I should be gaining about a pound a week at this point, and if everything goes according to plan, I won't go over 150. For most of my life I struggled to be over 100 - so 150 seems crazy to me, but as long as the baby and I are both healthy, I'm not too worried about it.

So that's about all the excitement I have going on for now. Here are some pics from my last days of 2008.

Me and Randy with his cousins in Dallas.


Me, waiting patiently:
A) to open presents
B) to take a nap
C) to go home
D) for the baby to come
E) all of the above!



Me and Randy getting ready to open presents.



Mom, Randy, and Me at Race Into the New Year

While I did have to twist Randy's arm to get him to come, I DID NOT inflict the damage that required the sling. And to top it off, my non-runner husband pulled off a 30:17 5K. It took me several months of training to do that - and he did it with no training/practice at all! I did manage to be under an hour with a 48:44, which is sad compared to my PR of 27:15. But this was my first time racing for two, so I'm not too worried about it.

Special thanks to Roman for keeping me company and keeping me entertained during the run!


And yes, I did shamelessly steal the last 2 pics from the RunnersWorld blog! You should check it out!!