Monthly Archives: March 2017

Twenty-Nine Weeks Old – The 411

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My little fluffy angel is 29 weeks old today.

She is such a sweet baby !  She is trying to crawl and now leaps forward to get things she wants. 

It is so cute to see her rock on her knees.  

Of all days, I am sitting in the emergency room with our mother having her evaluated for chest pain. She just got out of the hospital from the bout with ARDS, pneumonia,  and sepsis on the 23rd and was released to a rehab center.  They promised us she would get a private room and I gave them thru the weekend to make that happen.  They pulled the old bait and switch so I got back from the beach where I was packing up our things to go to storage, and went the center, packed up her belongings, took them to the car, came back, put her in a wheel chair and rolled her right out of there.   I went to a new condo complex near the hospital where her doctors are and where she used to live, and got a six month lease.  There is a gym, a pool, and the place is beautiful with hardwood floors and it faces the woods.   We will be back at the beach in September.

My mom’s doctor wrote scripts for physical and occupational therapy and for home health.  She will do outpatient treatment.   She is much happier being out of the center.  We have her in a hotel until then furniture is delivered on Sunday.   I found a gorgeous sectional with chaise on Macys.com that my sister sent me a link for so I ordered that and we have been to a few stores getting things.   I have a ton of kitchen stuff in storage nearby so I plan to go tomorrow and get the boxes and unpack them and do grocery shopping.   The internet and cable will be installed on Monday.  

I will be so elated when we can go back to living life and not have it marred by illness.  I feel like we are being cheated out of enjoying the baby.  

Twenty-Eight Weeks -The 411

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My baby girl is now 28 weeks old !  She is getting rather heavy.   

She can sit up for a while and often falls over so she can reach someone in her line of view. 

She is now trying to crawl.  I am not that excited about mobility !

My mom was finally released from the hospital after 23 days and is now in an acute rehabilitation center.    She is doing very well.  
The baby will be glad when her human jungle gym /grandmom is at home. We visit with her daily.  

Tomorrow, I am heading to the beach to pack up all our things and get everything we do not need into storage. 

Twenty-Seven Weeks Old – The 411

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My little angel is now 27 weeks old.  For the past 19 days, I have been at the hospital by my mom’s side for at least twelve hours a day.  I feel so torn because I miss my baby when I am not with her, but she is bonding with my sisters and her cousins while I am at the hospital. 

Our mom is doing a lot better.  She had ARDS (which has less than a 50% survival rate), severe pneumonia and sepsis.  She is still healing from the pneumonia and they are trying to clear fluid from her lungs.  She will likely have to go to Acute Rehabilitation once she is released from the hospital because she is very weak.  This comes from being couped up in an ICU bed and sedated.  

We are very blessed that she is pulling through this and will rebound.

Her hospitlization is putting a hold on my baby’s modeling and acting career.   She was booked by Gerber and called in for a casting for Lamaza Baby, but I am hesistant to travel away from the DC area in fear that I will be summoned to the hospital for an emergency like the other morning when we had to drive in an ice storm because she was in distress.  

I have to go to the beach as well to pack up our things and get the to storage before the end of the month.   I will be awaiting September to go back !  We will be going back a month earlier this year since we missed two months this season.

Please continue to lift our mother in your thoughts and prayers …

Twenty-Six Weeks Post Partum – The 411

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My little angel turned 26 wks old yesterday at 4:18 pm.   26 weeks of watching this amazing little creature grow, develop, change … right before my eyes.   She went from being a tiny little four pounds to a chunky little sixteen pounds.

Her eyes went from gray to blue and sometimes green to a beautiful mox of gray, brown, and blue and sometimes gray, brown and green.  

I think ultimately, her eye will be hazel.

She can sit up unassisted and after a while she will lean forward to the point she almost falls over and then she fusses.   She is starting to eat her feet and she scoots now when she is on her tummy.   She loves to sleep on her right side now with her head bent back.  It often scares me because she bends it so far back, you think she will snap her neck.

She is absolutely the love of my life !  She adores me too.  It melts my heart the way she lights up when I talk to her or when I walk into the room.   She flashes this huge smile when she sees me.  

She is the sweetest baby ever with a tinge of spiciness.  She definitely knows what she wants and is pretty vocal about it !  

Definitely my kiddo !

Six Months Old Already – The 411

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Six months ago today, I gave birth to the most beautiful,  sweet, fiesty, tiny angel. 

She has grown and changed so much over the past six months and I can not believe that she is six months old and twenty six weeks already !

I am so very sad that my mother is on life support still and is not awake to celebrate this milestone.

My mom got pneumonia last week, her lung collapsed, and she was in ARDS. (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome)  It progressed extremely rapidly and she has been on a ventilator for seven days now.   Her vitals are now stable.  She is out of septic shock and they are now draining the fluid from her lungs so that she can be extubated.  She was alert earlier during the wean test but the doctor felt there was too much fluid in her lungs to risk extubating and decided to administer more lasix to drain the fluid and then wean her tomorrow and wake her up.  

My baby, now a new face for Carter’s children’s clothing, is meeting and exceeding all of her developmental goals.   She is now starting to scoot and trying to rock on her knees.   She loves to be read to, loves music, and has great motor skills.

She, too, has contracted the nasty cold virus that is going around and is very congested.   She seems to be rebounding pretty quickly, and I attribute it to her having been breastfed.  My nephew has the same virus now and he is struggling and has an ear infection.  My baby’s phlegm went from yellowish-green to clear in 24 hours. 

She still has silent reflux, which we address with her doctor and look at putting her on medication.  She is doing well with solids and I am expanding her palate.  The only thing she seems to not like is green beans. I am going to puree them with avocado and sweet potatoes and that should take care of that issue.  

I will update on my mom once there is something to tell…

Twenty-Five Weeks – The 411

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Today my daughter is 25 weeks old and it is bittersweet that her grandmother and look alike is on life support and not even aware of her today.

My heart breaks at the thought that one day, my mother will no longer be here with us.  No one ever thinks of their loved ones leaving here.  I stand firm in faith that this is NOT that appointed time.  God is a healer and I declare and decree that our mother will rebound completely from this illness to awake and kick cancers ass one last time !  God can do what no man can do and He will divinely bring her through this healed.  

I look at my daughter and I want so much for her to grow up learning from and hanging out with her Grandmom.  My mother adores her and after all I went through to have this child, I deserve to have my mother around to watch her grow… come to her recitals… tag along to castings… vacation with.

I refuse to believe that God would be that cruel and only allow my mother to meet my child.  She needs to be here to watch her grow up and impart her wisdom to.

Ephesians 3:20~

Prayers For Our Mother -The 411

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There are no words in any language which could adequately describe the sheer horror you witness when you are kicked out of your mother’s ICU room and told they are putting her on life support. 
After my mom had a CT Scan and Bone scan to rule out metastatic cancer, the dye made her ill.  She was already coming down with cold type symptoms that she got from my niece.   By yesterday morning, my mom did not look well, was not feeling well and was weak and coughing.   She said her chest hurt so my sister felt it best to have us take her to the ER because it seemed more like pneumonia than a cold.  My sister, T took her to the hospital nearest her home and they discovered that our mom did in fact have pneumonia and her right lung was partially collapsed. 

They admitted her.  This morning, I got my baby settled and I went to the hospital to sit with our mom and talk to the doctors and she said she didn’t feel any better and her chest and back hurt.  I called the nurse to change her pain meds.  While there, the attending came in and explained what was going on and that the infection was now in both lungs. The infectious disease doctor and pulmonary doctor came in and because she was in septic shock, they wanted her on life support to prevent her heart from being taxed. 

I was rushed out of her room after I told them to be sure to use a scope when intubating to prevent her stomach pouch from being perferated.  She had gastric bypass in 2005.

The docs had to put in a central line and an arterial line to administer fluids, three different antibiotics, two blood pressure medications etc.

I signed consents and also talked to the kidney specialist they called in because her kidneys shut down.  

I have never ever been more horrified in my life.  I called on everyone I know to pray.

The devil is a liar and I know that God is healer.  I have chosen to walk in faith and declare and decree Ephesians 3:20 over our lives. 

God will do exceedingly, abundantly above all that I ask or think. Because I honor Him, His blessings will chase me down and overtake me.  I will be in the right place at the right time.  People will go out of their way to be good to me.  I walk in God’s favor.  This is my declaration. AMEN.

I start my day with this affirmation daily.   I find comfort in it.  

God can do this and He is in control.  He will send divine knowledge, skill and instruction to every medical professsional responsible for our mom’s care.  She will be healed !

The CT scan and bone scan showed NO evidence of the cancer spreading.  It is just in the breast.  Thank God !  If she can kick cancers butt twice already, she can beat pneumonia.

I ask that you stand in agreement with me and lift my mother in your thoughts and prayers. 

Coconut Flour Lemon Pound Cake -Recipe 

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Coconut Flour Lemon Pound Cake

This fluffy and soft pound cake is bursting with lemon flavor!

Ingredients:

For the Cake

  •  5 organic eggs
  •  1/3 cup organic coconut oil, melted
  •  1/3 cup organic maple syrup
  •  1/3 cup lemon juice
  •  zest of 1 large organic lemon
  •  1/2 cup plus 1 T coconut flour
  •  1/4 cup tapioca starch
  •  1/2 t baking soda
  •  Pinch Kosher salt

For the Glaze

  •  1/3 cup coconut butter
  •  2 T organic maple syrup
  •  2 T lemon juice

Directions:

  •  Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 7.5” by 3.5” loaf pan.
  •  In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
  •  Add the coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
  •  Transfer to prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
  •  Remove from pan and cool completely.
  •  In a small bowl, mix together the coconut butter, maple syrup, and lemon juice for the glaze. Spread on cake.
  •  Slice and enjoy.