Fun in First: Let the Countdown Begin!

So I have decided to blog some about my teaching part of life. It is a big part of my life; I absolutely LOVE my job! First graders are the most fun to teach! A week from today is our last day of school! I am so excited and looking forward to being able to be a stay-at-home mom for a few months!! I am sad to say good bye to my kiddos at school. They are the best group of students and I will miss them so much! Think about it, August through half of May, spending 8 hours a day for 5 days a week with the same bunch of students (and I have a super small class); you would get attached! But, I am finishing my 5^th year of teaching and I am starting to get use to the process of saying good bye and in a few months hello to a new group to get attached to all over again! For the countdown in my classroom I found this really cute idea from Pinterest and my students LOVE it! I blew up ten balloons and in each balloon is a piece of paper with a fun treat for the day. I hung up all ten balloons from my ceiling and each day the student of the day gets to pick a balloon for me to pop. After it has popped (which THRILLS my students!) the student runs to find the paper and reads the exciting news for the day to the class! Some of my treats are: extra recess (of course), 15 minutes of Smart Board games, a basketball game with Mrs. Vance, candy from the candy basket, etc. It has been a success and I will file that idea for next year! But I am so ready for summer break! I can not wait to spend time with Andrew. Due to Andrew’s multiple surgeries when he was born, we have spent the last two summers driving back and forth to the Children’s Hospital for numerous check ups, but it looks like we have finally gotten away from those and may not even have to go this summer! We will be spending it at home doing all types of fun things! …I also hope to figure more of this blogging stuff out over the summer! J

Drew’s News: March of Dimes Success!

Saturday was our area’s March of Dimes walk! I am so proud of our Drew’s Crew Team for raising close to $1,500!!! My sister is our captain and I have to applaud her for her dedication to our team. This was our third year to walk. The first year we walked we had only been home from the NICU for a little over a week. Needless to say, it was one of those times where I still was feeling overwhelmed and couldn’t believe the turn of events that had happened in our life. This year though, was a much different story. Andrew was so happy and loved every minute of it. He also had a sign in the ‘baby boulevard.’ It had his “then and now” pictures on it and it was too cute when Andrew kept pointing at his picture on the sign! J We had a large turn out and it was such a great day full of celebrating God’s blessings of our sweet little miracle!

*Due to this being the last week of school I have no time for uploading photos, but I will soon!

Drew's News: Happy 2 Year Anniversay!

April 20^th is a very special day to us. It is the anniversary of the day we got to bring Andrew home! The road in the NICU was a very emotional one, and the ups and downs of that time were rough. I remember when I arrived to see Andrew at the NICU I had no idea what I was walking into. Josh had tried to prepare me, but words could not prepare me for the NICU environment and seeing my 2.12 lb. baby. I remember looking around, trying to take it all in. The other babies, who had been there longer, had special name tags made from scrapbooking paper with their names on them. Andrew who was a new patient and very critical did not have his own cute name tag by his bedside. He had an index card with a printed form that said “Vance, boy.” I remember thinking how impersonal that seemed and made me think maybe he wouldn’t have a nametag because he was too critical and may not be there that long. Then I would think I do not want him to have a nametag because that would mean he would be there a long time. He would see the NICU family more than his own grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. That meant nurses would be changing MY baby’s diapers, feeding MY baby (even if it was in a tube), and taking more care of MY baby than me. That meant I would have to step back and let them take care of my baby, so one day I could be the full-time care giver. I quickly realized I was going to have to come to grips with the situation and step back and let them do their work. Even though my mind had realized it, my heart never fully did. My instincts were there and it was always a struggle to sit back and not be able to do anything. All I wanted to do was be a mom and take care of my baby, but I couldn’t. For the first time in my life, I had absolutely no control over the situation. All I could do was pray that God would take care of my baby and sit by my baby’s side. By the time April 20^th arrived, I had grown quite comfortable there; in a weird sort of way. Of course, when you are somewhere 84 days straight you can get that way. We had become very familiar to the nurses and doctors. Workers on every floor would recognize us. Even though we were never just 100% super comfortable there, it did become a second home. Of course, it was the only home Andrew knew. We couldn’t wait for the day that we could introduce Andrew to the home we knew was awaiting him! On April 20, 2010 we said our good byes to everyone at the hospital and placed Andrew in his car seat. He was so tiny we had to roll cloth diapers up to put in between the space between the seat belt and his little legs. The picture below was taken in the NICU shortly before Andrew was discharged. This is a normal bouncy seat, so it gives you an idea of how tiny he was; even though compared to what he was, we thought he was so big! J So even though at the beginning I struggled with Andrew having to be there and having no control over the situation, we had made it. We had graduated from the NICU and were finally on our way home!

 

When we finally arrived home there were balloons, bows and signs everywhere. A lot of people had not even met Andrew yet and were very excited that he was finally home. That night was a very surreal experience. I had prayed for the day I would actually have my baby at home. I prayed so much and so hard for that and when it finally arrived, it was kind of like a dream. Our house was full of family and friends that night and many days after that. I look at pictures of all the people who were there and I can not describe their smiles in those pictures. They are the truest most genuine smiles I have ever seen on people. I look at those pictures and can actually go right back that night and feel the joy that had overcome me. Of course there were many tears along with those smiles. It had been a long journey for all of us.

So tonight, two years later (writing that makes me cringe because time does go by SO FAST!) we spent an evening all three of us at home. A normal week night. I was busy preparing foods for our bake sale tomorrow for our March of Dimes team, Josh watching TV, eating dinner together and Andrew busily running back and forth between Josh and I showing us something or playing something. In that NICU I couldn't picture what the future held, but what a treat to two years later to have a sweet little boy to love on and just enjoy a nice, boring, relaxing night at home! :-)

WOW! My first official blog...

I feel like this should be really special and really awesome considering it is my first blog. Truth is I have NO IDEA what I am doing and am really just trying to figure out this whole blog thing. My sister has been slightly obsessed with blogs for quite some time and has tried to sway me into checking out blogs myself. I honestly don't have time, BUT when I became addicted to Pinterest I would end up on these blogs. So, even though  I don't really have the extra time to sit at our computer or iPad, I do it because I LOVE blogs now! Since I teach, the teacher blogs are WONDERFUL motivation and give me GREAT ideas for my own classroom. Then there is my interest in hair, shoes, purses, clothes, etc. that make me look into a few other blogs. Last but not least I have found some blogs about other moms who I can relate to. I have lots of friends who are also moms, but none of them have been through the same situation as my husband and I. I delivered our son at 30 weeks. Yes, we had our baby boy 10 weeks early....very scary! and emotional! and joyful! and all of these emotions rolled up into a situation we thought we would NEVER be in. Andrew was only 2.12 lbs. when he was born and had to have multiple surgeries. He was also transported at a few hours old to a hospital with a higher level NICU than the hospital he was born at. And since I was sick with preeclampsia I had to stay at the hospital I delivered him at. Yep, I got to see my baby boy for a few precious minutes and then he was flown away. I did not see him for five more days. Now, that is just a few of the bits and pieces of that story and I will share more of our story and journey through the NICU in other posts. As I have become more familiar in this land of blogs, I have found some other moms who have preemies and it is such a comfort to read their stories and think, "Yes! I totally understand that! I can really relate to that!" I wish I would have found these blogs while I was sitting with Andrew in the NICU. Honestly, I was too afraid. I was afraid for my own son's life and what his future would be. I was afraid to read the blogs that ended sadly and I just couldn't handle that. I was very weak then and didn't have the strength to do anything but watch a heart rate monitor and a tiny baby. Now I am happy to say Andrew is a very healthy and happy two year old! Praise God! I have always enjoyed writing and journaling and anyone that knows me well knows I LOVE to talk, so I thought maybe I should try this blog thing out. But I really wanted a purpose if I was going to write a blog. While  I intend to write about various things of interest the main purpose of this blog is to connect with other moms of preemie babies. I want to hear about your stories, what your experiences were like and how is life now that your child has graduated from the NICU? Coming home from the NICU is such a wonderful time, but it is scary bringing a preemie home and there are still ups and downs to go through with a preemie. My purpose is to make people aware of premature births and raise awareness for March of Dimes. Once I had this purpose on my mind, it was a done deal..I would try to become a blogger. I don't have a lot of time, but I will be posting about our journey through the NICU and Andrew's miraculous life. As for now I need to take advantage of my little boy sleeping soundly and do so myself!