A PSA

I am a text messaging fool. I.LOVE.IT. Sometimes it is so much easier than actually talking on the phone, I actually get annoyed at the people in my life who don't text.

But this, well, this is different. We all know there are thousands of U.S. men and women fighting in a "war" (cough, Bush sucks, stupid ruse, anti-war talk, blah blah blah). These men and women
are away from friends and family. That's got to be tough. I couldn't do it. But to be away from your family during the holidays? No way!

You can make a difference this week for the men and women serving our country. It will only take a second but it could mean so much. Send a text message of thanks to our brave men and women.

Thankful for... Googie Pt. 3

Looking back at Googie's 10 day stay in the NICU after birth. It was a scary time for all of us, but it also made us realize how very thankful we are. That seems like a perfect theme as we head into the holidays.


July 26, 2005
1:50 AM UPDATE

I couldn't sleep, so decided to call and check on Googie. When we checked on her a few hours ago at 9pm, she was down to 60% oxygen. I just called to check on her before I tried to get in bed and received the most wonderful news.

As of right now, Googie is no longer on a ventilator and she is breathing room air. She is awake and calm... there is no need for sedation (remember, she was so easily agitated before... and pulling on all her wires and tubes, that's why they were keeping her sedated).

This is no guarantee that she might not have to go back on the oxygen (probably under an oxygen hood- like what she was under while at Spring Hill)... but this is a very good sign. Here's hoping that little spitfire continues to surprise us!

Free at last from the ventilator tube.

3:00 PM UPDATE

Googie stayed on room oxygen for several hours before having to go back under the oxygen hood this morning. At one point she was up to 50% oxygen, but throughout the day it has been weaned down to 23-25%. Our hungry little Googie enjoyed her first bit of real food today. At 11am she was fed 1/2 ounce of formula through the tube in her nose, which goes straight to her stomach. Remember, she hasn't eaten since she was born... she's been getting her nutrition through an IV.

She is no longer under sedation and is sleeping and waking up on her own. The Hub and I were with her for about 3 hours this afternoon. She was sleeping peacefully until about 1:30 when she decided she was hungry again. She took another 1/2 ounce of formula. She continued to cry for awhile, but it was the most awesome sound. We've only heard her cry twice since Thursday night... once right after she was born and again Friday when we got to hold her. Once on the ventilator, she would cry- but no sound would come out.

Her respiratory rates range anywhere from the 30s to the 90s at times. Normal range for a newborn is 30-60.. so she's still breathing quickly at times, but she is staying in the 40-60s more and more... so that's good.

They did an x-ray this morning, but her nurse Karen had not looked at it yet. Still, Karen said she didn't need an x-ray to know that Googie's lungs were getting better and the pneumonia was clearing up. She wouldn't be off the ventilator and on so little oxygen if she was still so sick.

Her billirubin level is at 14.1. Normally when the level is 15, they will put a baby under the Billi light to fight the jaundice. They may go ahead and put Googie under the light just as a precaution.

There is still no word on when she will come home. We have to follow her lead on this... she could continue to make great strides in her recovery and surprise us all (like she did last night) or she could have a couple of setbacks and take a while longer. We'll just leave that up to her.

We're still not allowing visitors at the hospital yet. We just want to do what's best for Googie. I hope everyone understands. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers... the emails and phone calls mean a lot... even if I don't respond to them all. I'm exhausted and still trying to take care of myself, too.

I'm heading back up to see her at 7:30pm tonight. I hope to have more good news to post then!

Look at her pretty lips

10:00 PM UPDATE

This update will be short compared to the others... there's not a big change... Googie is still enjoying her 1/2 ounce feedings every few hours. As I said earlier, they will up her formula a bit tomorrow, probably to about a full ounce every 3 hours.

I didn't write about this earlier, because I forgot... but they have removed the tube that was in through her umbilical cord. It was in place to allow them to do their blood draws without having to stick her every time. Earlier today we were told we wouldn't be able to hold her until that line was removed. That line goes directly into an artery... and if Googie is jostled around too much while the line is still in, it could cause bleeding. Karen, Googie's daytime nurse, estimated it might be a day or so before that line was removed. Imagine my surprise when I saw her tonight and that line is no longer there! Still, I didn't hold her tonight. I wanted to wait until The Hub was with me, so we could both hold her... it seemed like such an important moment we need to share... I can wait a few more hours... and Googie could use the rest... she's come so far in the past 24 hours, I just don't want to rush her.

Googie was still at 25% oxygen tonight... that got pushed up to 28% by the time I left tonight shortly before 10pm. Tonight was the first night shift I had been able to visit. Before, the latest I had stayed was until 6:30pm. One thing I noticed about the night shift... it's louder and brighter than the dayside shift. I'm not sure why... Googie seemed quite agitated tonight, her respiratory rate was rather high in the 70s-90s the entire time I was there. A group of nurses was seated nearby and I felt like they were talking a little too loud. Perhaps I'm being an overprotective mother... perhaps Googie was just fidgety because she's come so far, so fast. I don't know. I do plan to ask the dayside nurse about it though. Googie seems so calm during the day, but I've been told she really shows her temper at night. I wonder if she's getting overstimulated with the noise and brightness?

So that's my update. I may call later tonight and see how she's doing (in fact I'm sure I will). The Hub and I will be back by her bedside by 11 or noon Wednesday. I'll post another update when we return from that... unless there is more spectacular news to report before then!

My pretty little one with Lola, her stuffed cow

I'm Thankful For.... Googie Pt. 2

As the holidays approach, I continue thinking about what I'm thankful for and reflecting on Googie's 10 days spent in the neo-natal intensive care unit of our local Children's hospital.


Monday, July 25, 2005

Googie is starting to show signs of improvement. The Hub and I were able to spend the entire afternoon at her bedside. Yesterday she was down to 70% oxygen, but that had to be upped overnight and she was back to 100% this morning. When we arrived this afternoon, she was down to 85%... and throughout our visit they were able to slowly wean her down all the way to 55%. We called and checked on her about 9pm tonight... they did have to up her oxygen level to 60%, but that's ok. During our visit she showed little signs of agitation and was resting well.

Her pneumonia is responding to the antibiotics and today's x-ray showed improvement. That's all good news. Her echo cardiogram came back A-OK. In fact, to quote the cardiologist, she has "the prettiest little heart" he's ever seen. That was wonderful news for us.

So I asked her nurse why her oxygen levels had to be put back up to 100%. Basically we're still dealing with her lungs maturing. She's not yet producing the Cerfactin on her own (that helps lubricate the lung tissues so they operate properly). She will soon start producing the stuff on her own... some babies just take a little longer than others... and after all, the first 36 hours of her life were exhausting for her.

My little girl still has to have a machine help her breathe.

She's still breathing on the ventilator, but more and more while we were there we noticed she was taking very deep breaths on her own. That's also good news. She's getting stronger. Her heart and blood pressure rates are fine, well within the normal limits. Her respiratory rates are staying in the 40s... SO MUCH better than the 110 times a minute earlier this weekend.

She's got a touch of jaundice, but her levels aren't high at the moment. The nurses were going to test her levels again later tonight or tomorrow morning... she may end up on the Billi-Light... but that's normal for a lot of newborns.

She's still not able to eat... instead getting all of her nutrition from an IV. Eating will have to wait until she's off the ventilator. It's still too early to tell when she might be able to go home. I would guess best case scenario *MIGHT* be by the end of the weekend, but I'm betting mid-week next week or later. At this point, I don't care... as long as it takes... at least I know she's getting better. Googie is healthy and improving and USA's staff is doing an AMAZING job. I just can't say enough good things about these wonderful people. They are as gentle with the parents as they are with the babies... asking as many questions about how I'm doing as I ask about how she is doing.

I am healing well, at least physically. Emotionally and mentally it is a very hard road for me at the moment. It's very hard to come home and see all this baby stuff and not have her here... I really miss her a lot and want nothing more than to sit at her bedside 24/7. I know right now I can't physically do that, so I'm trying very hard to get as much rest as possible. I will get my staples removed on Friday.

The Hub is going back to work Tuesday so he can save his vacation time for when she comes home. Since he gets off at 10:30 every morning, we'll have all day to spend at the hospital with her before we have to come home so he can get some sleep in the evening.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

I'm Thankful For... Googie Pt. 1

I am always thankful to have such beautiful, healthy children. I like to reflect on how their lives started to remind myself how far they've both come. It seems even more significant to me as the Holidays approach. This week, I'm revisiting the first 10 days of Googie's life, when she was in the NICU of the local Children's Hospital..

This was originally posted on her BabiesOnline webpage.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

I'm finally home after a long 4 days. Googie is still in the NICU at USA C&W. She is still on a ventilator and will be for at least a couple more days. They were able to decrease her oxygen from 100% to 70%, so that's a great sign she just may be on her way to getting better. Her blood pressure and heart rates are great and they say everything else is just fine. Googie has started responding to the Cerfactin, which will help lubricate the tissues of her lungs and get them in good working order.

Watching over Sophie, 3 days old, in the NICU

X-rays also show an improvement in the fluid levels in her lungs, so I think she is getting over the pneumonia. She will have an echocardiogram in the morning, to make sure there are no heart defects, but the nurses and doctors seem sure there are none, as she has shown no signs of any heart trouble in any other tests.

Googie still has a long road ahead of her, as they try to wean her first off the oxygen and then off the ventilator. Her nurse says Googie's first 36 hours exhausted her, because she was fighting for each and every breath (at one time, breathing 110 times per minute, that's now down to about 40-50 times per minute). But the little GoogleBug has definitely got a fighting spirit... since she pulled her first breathing tube completely out... then fought against 3 nurses as they tried to insert another. :) She's got a temper (wonder who she inherited that from??????).

We're optimistic she may be home by the weekend, but for now we just have to wait and see. Regardless of when she comes home, we've been assured there will be no lasting effects from this... and it will all be a distant memory.

I'm slowly improving, though the C-section was horrible (just ask anyone who enjoyed my story about it on Friday). I'm thankful I got an early release from the hospital, because I desperately needed to see Googie. It's been hard, only having had the chance to hold her once since she was born. For now, I'm happy sitting by her bedside just looking at her... as long as she continues to improve... I can wait for the snuggles!

Googie was the talk of the nursing staff at the hospital, thanks to her tv debut! The nurses loved that she was getting so much attention from their favorite tv station.

Fun at Cathedral Square

**It's been a rough weekend in our little corner of the world, so I'm behind in my NaBloPoMo posting. I haven't given up, though!**

Saturday we decided to take the kids down to Cathedral Square in the downtown area. It was a beautiful November day here along the Gulf Coast so we took advantage of the weather!

Googie getting a ride on Daddy

Soupy got in on the action, too.

Googie "hugging" the light post

Soupy giving me "a look"

We had a fantastic time and will definitely head back soon. Especially with our wonderful weather (low 70's, light breeze and beautiful blue skies!).

Thought YOU Had Bad Hair Days?

Check out what I got to see when I got home from work this morning. EEK!

Googie had already been up for awhile and had breakfast (hence the remnants still on her face).

I think Googie was channeling Phil Spector!

Sunday, Monday... Happy Days!

This was a post I started back in July. I have no idea why I never actually posted it on my site. So I updated it near the end and decided to use it for today's post. Is that considered cheating?

********************************************************************

I have a problem.


My beloved and adorable daughter, Googie, has picked up some less than desirable words in her quest to conquer the English language.


A few weeks ago, we were grocery shopping. Googie was happily riding in the shopping cart. A woman was approaching us from the opposite end of the store aisle. She reached out to pick up a canned good, but dropped it on the floor.


"Damn it!"


Stunned silence from all around. And all eyes turned to the person who uttered the expletive. Here's a hint... it was not the lady who dropped the can.

Yep. You guessed it. It was MY DAUGHTER!

Of course, those who know The Hub and I probably aren't truly surprised she said such a thing. After all, I've been known to let loose a verbal string of expletives that would make a seasoned sailor blush like a virgin on her wedding night.

Sometimes I blame it on my line of work. Things can get incredibly stressful in the control room. When your entire newscast is crashing and burning before your eyes, sometimes you just need to let it out.

But since having kids, The Hub and I decided we really needed to clean up our language. But we knew we couldn't just quit cold turkey. We needed to have some transition words for those stressful situations. We tried out the darns, rats, fooeys... they just didn't fit.

Then... somehow, someway... we came up with the following list of alternatives:

1. Fonz or fonzin


2. Joanie


3. Chachi


4. Potsie

Now, it shouldn't be hard to figure out how Fonz is used.... but, just in case there are some virgins out there who are actually reading my blog on their wedding night instead of getting down and dirty... Fonz is the fill-in for Fuck.

Fonz You! Mother Fonzer! I am so Fonzin tired of this bull!

So you get the idea, right?

Joanie is the more friendly version of bitch.

Wow, Jane is being such a Joanie today. She must be seriously PMSing.

Chachi is a little more interchangeable. It doesn't have a definitive spot. I just use it was a wildcard word.

John, I can't believe you just called me a Joanie! That really hurt my feelings you fonzin' Chachi!

Potsie usually stands for Prick or Ass, or just about anything. I just like the way it sounds.

Jamie was really being a Potsie during the meeting today.

So there you have it. Some suggestions if you happen to be looking for a way to clean up your language.

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I'm proud to report now, 4 months later, my daughter rarely, if ever mutters a single curse word. I must be doing something right!

One in a Million (Well, 1 in 1,413,056 to be exact)

I'm a child of the 70's.

I'm a child of the 70's with probably THE most popular name of that decade.

Hello, my name is Jennifer and I am 1 in 1,413,056 . That's according to How Many of Me.

Think about that. Nearly 1.5 million people have my same first name. No wonder I was always Jennifer M. in school. I don't think I was ever in a class without at least 2 other Jennifers throughout my school years. There were a few classes where there were 5 of us!!!!

(It didn't help that I don't have a middle name. But that's a blog for another day.)

Even as an adult I can't escape the multiples of J's. In my department alone, there are 4 people, including myself, named Jennifer. Heck, there used to be 5, but she moved on to a bigger market. I will proudly say, I was the original Jennifer... well, at least in the last decade there, probably.

When the subsequent Jens got hired, I was given a nickname by some of my co-workers. Back when JLo first got popular, someone decided to dub me JRo. And so, that name has stuck, 7 years later.

So, it seems, I will never get to just be Jennifer. There are too darn many of us!

I guess it's no wonder that once I signed up for this NaBloPoMo gig, I was quickly contacted and asked if I wanted to join The Circle of Jens group. Jen Y. over at A Thousand Times No said the powerful and many Jennifers out there make up 2% of NaBloPoMo. Woot! Shout out to us all!
She gave me the idea to blog about all things Jen.

So from one Jennifer to another, thank you!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1,413,056 people named Jennifer in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

It's Beginning to Sound A Lot Like Christmas...

... and I LOVE it!

Yes, the calendar says November 6. Yes, stores have had their Christmas displays up since April. But, for the most part, I'm in heaven!

What I consider the "holiday season" (Halloween-New Years) has been my favorite time of year since I can remember. I LIVE for the chance to drive around and admire the twinkling lights strung up on homes across my hometown. And the Christmas music... oh, the Christmas music.

It honestly doesn't bother me to hear Christmas Carols when I'm just throwing out my now rotten jack-o-lanterns. I was in heaven driving to work the other night. I was scanning through the radio dial and heard the first Christmas songs of the season on Radio Delilah. Most people might recoil in horror. Not me. I turned the radio up. I sang along. I had tears in my eyes (yes, I'm a sap).

I think my love for Christmas music comes from my high school band days. Sure, we'd still be in full-blown marching season, but our band director would still have us reading through Christmas sheet music to prepare for our Christmas concert.

It wasn't odd for me to be seen carrying Halloween candy to school, along with my books and a folder filled with the flute/piccolo parts to some very familiar Christmas songs. My all time favorite was Stille Nacht by Manheim Steamroller. We even sang the "Oooooo" parts. To this day, hearing this song makes me think of high school band performances.

I guess ultimately, Christmas music, Christmas decorations... they are all emotional triggers to some very happy memories. Memories filled with childhood delight at what Santa left under the tree... of dinners with my mom and dad, grandparents, countless aunts, uncles and cousins... the smell of a warm fire mixed with the sweet aroma of a Christmas tree covered in twinkling lights and sparkling ornaments... of happiness.

I love Christmas. I love Christmas music. I can't wait to watch Googie and Soupy grow. I hope I can instill in them the feeling of family, hope and love I feel every holiday season.

Deck the halls!

Gonna go back in time!

Ok. So pretend you are in a time machine.

And we've set the date to November 1, 2007.

Wow. We're in the past. Freaky huh?

Now I can post the obligatory Halloween pics of Googie and Soupy!

It was The Hub's idea to dress Mr. Soupy up as Indiana Jones in honor of the new movie currently being filmed.

Now, obviously I'm quite biased... but I think he makes quite the handsome Indy, don't you? Maybe I should get him an agent and get in touch with Spielberg's people?

Then there was my precious little Googie. She has long been my lil' ladybug, so this costume just seemed appropriate.

After hitting about 6 houses or so, she was ready to trade in her costume for her pajamas and an evening curled up in my recliner, watching cartoons and eating chickenfriesketchup.

It didn't help that both Soupy and Googie were fighting some pretty serious colds. So Halloween wasn't the grandest of times for them this year.

NaBloPoMo- I'm doin' it!!!!

So... I'm doing it. I've got to do something to get back in the swing of things.

I keep saying it. Over. And over. And over again, I know... but I really do want to write on this blog o'mine. Heck, I have some great, unwritten posts floating around in my head. I'm not writing for lack of content. It's there. But there are only so many hours in the day.

So, to challenge myself, I'm jumping on the NaBloPoMo bandwagon. I'm even going to catch up and make posts for the November days I've missed.

Maybe by the end of the month, I'll be on top of things!