Silent Auction for CAROL VANCE DECKER

I was surfing around on some of my baby-related blogs and found this post on Mamanista. The story really touched me and I thought I should post it on my blog(s) to try to spread the word.

Carol Decker had an emergency cesarean section on June 10, 2008. After the surgery she developed life-threatening hypotension from a septic pneumonia infection. After fighting for several weeks, the medicine she was on to save her life had the unfortunate side effect of blocking blood flow to her legs, left arm and eyes.

Since then, Carol has had both legs below the knee amputated, her left arm amputated and she is blind. Carol was transferred to Harborview after an extended stay in ICU at Swedish Hospital, which insurance has covered to an extent and the rest her family have had to pay for out of pocket. Carol will now begin inpatient rehab, which her insurance will not cover, and is estimated to cost somewhere around $80,000.

Items have been donated and you can bid for them at http://auctionforcarol.blogspot.com/. On that site there is also more info on Carol and her family - including pictures of her adorable children. You can also visit Scott & Carol Decker's blog, which has more info on the family and is following her progress.

You don't have to bid on items - but if you read this post I would love if you passed the info on to friends and family who you think might!

CPR Class

Tonight Jeff and I have our CPR class at the hospital. This class came highly recommended to me by my doctor, who suggested that the information provided during the 2.5 hour class is well worth our time.

Here is the class description:

Learn car seat and home safety, CPR and anti-choking techniques for newborns and children through the age of 8. This class is taught in a relaxed, small group setting with lots of hands on practice. Participants also will receive an infant CPR manual and safety brochures to take home. All instructors are certified by the American Heart Association. Recommended for pregnant couples, new parents, nannies, grandparents, baby-sitters, and other child care providers. Also great for those with toddlers who have not taken a Pediatric CPR course in a while. Car seat safety information and home safety information provided.

Its our last class at the hospital. Overall the classes have provided helpful information but they have also made us more comfortable with the hospital itself. In the long run, I think that comfort actually outweighs our classroom experiences :)

35 Weeks

Ah, the end seems so close, yet still so far. Despite the fact that I feel like I cant get any bigger (at least in the pure size of me), I can and will get bigger in the next 5 weeks. I cant imagine that will make gettting around ... or sleeping ... any easier!

Though I keep getting physically larger, as for the weight gain, I lost another lb. Perhaps its a pattern, lose one week and then gain double the next? (Thats what happened last time) I have a feeling that one week I am going to step on the scale and be up about 10 lbs and that will put all the weight wavering questions to rest :)
Me @ 35 Weeks
ePregnancy talks just about how I feel: "You’ve gained approximately 30 lbs, and the strain is starting to show. You’re feeling moody and irritable, more like a beach ball than a supermodel." Actually I dont think I have been very moody (maybe you should ask Jeff to confirm this), but I know that I am often irritable. Its tough not being able to to do the things you want to do, and getting slowed down doing the few things you can. A walk around the block with the dog (or to Starbucks) has become more like a challenging journey versus the quick jolt it was in days past. I assume the lack of sleep can only add to that irritability, as I get up each morning still tired and often cranky :(

The Baby @ 35 Weeks
Height: 18.19 inches
Weight: 5.25 Pounds
What to Expect says that most of Baby Schneider's growth over the next month or so will be in weight (with a gain of anywhere from one pound to several), not height (baby's pretty much reached the in utero limit in that department). So while the baby wont get a whole long longer, it does get bigger as it accumulates fat at a rapid pace. In the middle of pregnancy a baby's weight is made up of only 2% fat; that percentage has now soared to closer to 15% and will increase to 30% over the next 5 weeks!

Video Monitor

Did not do a whole lot over the Labor Day weekend, but we did pick up a video monitor for Baby Schneiders room. Now we have a rocking chair and a video monitor, we sure are well on our way :)

Reviews of video monitors (versus just plain auddio) are generally not good, but both Jeff and I figured we would give it a shot. At least we will set it up and play around with it to see how it works. We have plenty of time to exchange it and get a different type as we wont even be using the babies room for a couple of months. We do want to make sure that when we do need it that we have one that we feel is pretty reliable.

We decided on the Summer Infant "Baby's Quiet Sounds Day and Night Color Flat Screen Video Monitor". Since all of the reviews vary we couldnt go by them a whole lot, so decided just to go on the features we like and hope it all works out. A lot of the video monitors come with really tiny screens, which are likely hard to see (especially in the middle of the night if you wear glasses!). The one we chose has a 7" LCD flat screen monitor and was pretty much our deciding factor. We will test it out over the next few weeks to see how it works!