1160 Days

The post I made yesterday left out a lot of detail because I was trying to stick to the health facts. There was actually a second part to the story and I felt that it deserved it's own entry. I've been completely overwhelmed with gratitude at the outpouring of love, encouragement, and prayer that my family and I received over the weekend while I was in the hospital. I wish I could thank each and every one of you individually in person for your kindness and support. I'm one of those stubborn personalities that hates being in a vulnerable position that requires me to ask for help. I always want to do it on my own and this weekend I discovered that sometimes I just can't. I also discovered that I have managed to surround myself with some absolutely incredible people who my family and I are blessed to have in our lives.

Alyssa S- for generously bringing me two bags of milk to supplement Ruby with while I was receiving an antibiotic that I wasn't entirely comfortable nursing while on. I've donated milk and I know what a gift this is to give to someone else. Thank you for staying to chat with me for a bit especially considering you had movers at your house packing up your entire life into boxes and were preparing to move it all to another house! It was nice having you there as a conversational distraction as they changed my IV and blew my vein for the hundredth time ;)

Katie C- for having flowers sent up to my room the first day that I was admitted. They put a smile on my face and really brightened up the room (even though they weren't the exact ones that you ordered, haha). That was completely unexpected and very very thoughtful of you.

Karoline P- for stopping by after running a race (even with a sore knee!) with an adorable stuffed owl for Ruby and a beautiful bracelet for me. It was so nice having someone to talk to while Jon was gone and I felt like I hadn't seen you in forever anyway. I can't wait to see you again and let you snuggle Ruby!

Uncle Bob and Aunt JoAnn- for taking Ari and Lucy for the entire weekend with only a few hours notice. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for what you did for our family this weekend. Because of you, Jon was able to stay overnight which meant that Ruby and I did not have to be separated. Although I missed my two sweet girls, I was at peace knowing that they were safe and happy with you and both girls plus Jon and my mom told me that they had a blast. We love you both and we are blessed to have you as family. Thank you!!!!

Reyka S, Mary S, Jenny B, Lisa B, Vivid L-L, Rachele S, Kayla A, Amy B, and Aluria P- for either offering milk, offering to wet nurse, or posting on your pages or community pages asking for milk for Ruby. Again, I know what a gift this is to give to another mama and baby. I'm also incredibly touched that I had so many offers from other mamas to nurse Ruby so that she wouldn't lose her latch (SO important to me as she was only two days old and we had just barely established a god latch) and that nobody thought that it was weird (and if they did, they were kind and smart enough to keep quiet, haha). It really comforts me to know that if anything like this were to ever happen again, I would have plenty of people ready and willing to make sure that my baby was given the best.

Amy B, Austin R, Cara D, Tammi M, Victoria W- for helping me with information on the antibiotics. You know, when I read back through the comments and messages a lot of it was information that I probably either already knew or would have been able to easily find, but at the time I was so overwhelmed with everything. Being a sick and weak as I was and being told that my two day old baby couldn't stay with me AND that I couldn't nurse her had me completely panicked and unable to think clearly. I also had a phone with a low battery and no way to charge it and spotty coverage so even that wasn't a reliable resource. Thank you for providing me with clarity and the resources to help me find more information so that I could feel confident that Ruby would be safe with my milk.  

Lisa B and Karoline P- for offering to take Ari and Lucy so that Jon could stay with Ruby and I and Karoline P and Kayla A for offering to make meals for Jon and the girls while I was in the hospital. Even though we didn't end up needing food or childcare, it means the world to me that people were willing to make sure that my entire family was taken care of while I was unable to do so.

Brittany B, Dawn H, and Lesile B- for making posts on your own pages asking for prayers and Erika H, Kimberly J, and Stephanie J for posting my my page sending well wishes. Melissa J, Stephanie J, Dawn H, Mysti B, and Lindsey W who sent me messages checking up on me and offering to come and sit with me if I needed company or somebody to lend a hand with Ruby while Jon was taking care of everything else.

To everyone else who commented on the posts that I made throughout the weekend- you are amazing! I first posted that I was being admitted at 7:54am on Friday and 48 comments with prayers and supportive comments poured in immediately. At 10:14am, I posted that I had just been told that Ruby couldn't stay with me and that I needed milk and got 50 more comments (plus messages) with offers of milk, offers to help with Ari and Lucy, information on nursing while on medication, information specific to the medications that I was being prescribed, as well as more prayers and positive thoughts. Posted AGAIN at noon and got another 27 comments. People continued to post encouraging comments on my Facebook wall, my posts, and the photos that I was posting throughout that first day and continued to check up on me via text message and Facebook message on Saturday and Sunday. There had to be well over 200 comments, posts, and text/Facebook messages sent to me and I'm sure many more were sent to Jon as the first thing that he said upon arriving at the hospital was, "You have a lot of people praying for you. A LOT." So many that I couldn't even keep up or respond to them all. I tell you honestly, your willingness to stop, even if just for a moment, and lift me up in my time of need is what kept me going. Knowing that I had people all over the world (and not just friends and family, but friends and family of friends  and family) praying for my strength and quick recovery kept my spirits up and I believe truly made a impact on how quickly I recovered after that first rough day. When I finally posted on Sunday that I was being released to go home, 87 people "liked" the post and several people posted follow up posts on their own pages letting everybody know that their prayers and well wishes had worked. In turn, people commented on those posts and said that they would continue to pray for my healing! So people out there, many who I do not even know and who do not know me, are STILL praying for me. That is SO amazing!

All of the prayers.......I can't even imagine the noise you all made up in Heaven!!! You were not ignored. God was listening and He sent me angels.

*The first time I passed out was during a chest x-ray. The last thing I remember before waking up on the floor was the radiologist having me hold on to a bar above my head and then watching him walk away to take the x-ray. Apparently, there was something on the machine that he forgot to adjust so he walked back over to me to fix it and that's when I went down. Had he not been there to catch me, I likely could have ended up with a concussion when I hit the floor.

*On two different occasions I was given antibiotics that contained penicillin, a drug that I am allergic to. Although I don't know exactly what happens to me when I take it, it's been known to cause some pretty severe reactions which is something that I'm not sure my already suppressed immune system would have handled well. On both occasions, the same doctor (Dr. Vogle- the OB that I saw) walked into the room just in time to see the IV bag hanging and stop me from receiving it.

*The second day that I was there, my fever started to go down and stay down so they started to space out my medication. I went to bed that night and was told beforehand that somebody would be coming in to get vitals and blood around 3am. My eyes fluttered open a little before 2am when I heard my door open. Before I could even focus on who was coming into the room, I noticed how cold and sweaty I felt. A nurse came over, introduced herself, and apologized for waking me an hour early, but said that she wanted to get my vitals before shift change because there was going to be about an hour in between when she left and the next nurse arrived (meaning nobody would be in until 4am). The patient care supervisor still would have been there, but she doesn't do vitals, only goes to patient's rooms if she's paged. She put on the BP cuff, the heartrate monitor, and stuck the thermometer under my tongue. The first thing that registered was that my fever was back up to almost 102. The monitor then showed a heartrate of 132 and a BP in the 80's. Very poor vitals all around and I was already starting to experience some of the other symptoms that I had originally come in with. She gave me a fever reducer and increased the speed of the fluid drip in my IV. I went back to sleep and woke up with much better vitals (98 temperature, HR of 100, and BP in the mid-90s). Had she not decided to come in early, I probably would have gotten as bad as I had been the first day.


I continued to feel blessed and protected during my entire hospital stay and each time I started to feel lost or desperate, I was given a little ray of light. Thank you thank you THANK YOU to all of the people who help provide those rays and who really showed me true friendship. I sincerely hope that I am able to do the same for you someday.