Tuesday, September 30, 2008

A Winner, Some CP Stuff, and Some Sewing Stuff

I want to thank everyone for their participation in my fun little giveaway for a t-shirt. I ended up entering everyone who commented at that post because it was too much to separate them out (sometimes I get a bit lazy when it comes to administrative work).

Anyways, long story short, Swistle is the winner! In all my giveaways (the three million I've done, ha!) I have NEVER EVER seen the random number generator generate 1. So, it seems to be sort of an anomaly. I'm always hesitant to enter giveaways as the first one because of that very reason. Anyways, I've been proven wrong.



Ok, so one to some CP stuff. Darsie's physical therapist has decided that now is the time for Darsie to go to the Pediatric Rehabilitative doctor for a consultation that will most likely result in either Botox injections in her foot, serial casting of her foot (where her foot is casted into the correct position for extended periods of time), or a combination of the two. We have an appointment lined up for mid-October but it is a bit nerve wracking. She currently twists her foot in pretty good and walks on the exterior edge of it rather than how you or I walk. If we can correct it now and keep it corrected, we can hopefully avoid surgery down the road or at the very least, push it out as far as possible.

Elise (no CP but this is still motor related) is doing really well these days. She is receiving occupational therapy once a week and is scooching on her butt still. I've seen her pull up to standing a couple times now and is really gaining a lot of strength. She is going to the local Early Intervention play group once a week and she is a hoot. She is the loudest and eats the most. Such a delicate girl.

Ok, and on to some sewing stuff.

We bought some rocking chairs for our front porch a couple of weeks ago and the black looked a bit stark against the gray-green of the house. So, I took two pillows that are on our boat (it came without about 10 throw pillows...all really ugly and weird colors) and recovered them. I used an envelope cover so if we decide to change the covers, it is easy to do so. I just used some fabric that I already had in my stash and they seriously took about ten minutes to do. So easy.

If anybody is interested in a tutorial, just holler.

I also sewed up this little pouch this morning. My purse is huge and it gets cluttered very quickly, so I though that perhaps some little pouches would help alleviate that problem. Cute, huh? It is lined in red cotton so it is a little snazzy inside.



Now I just need to get on my Christmas list. Ugh.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Giveaway Reminder!

Don't forget to enter to win my giveaway. I'm giving away one t-shirt like this one:
What I'm offering: 1 short sleeved t-shirt in a child's size for either a boy or a girl (we can pick different fabric). You can pick either a d4 design like above except with your initial and number or just a single number or letter, whichever you prefer.

What I need is help coming up with a name for the shirts because I would like to sell them on Etsy. So, you leave me a name idea, you get one entry into the giveaway. You put a link to the giveaway or the shirt on your blog, you get three additional entries for a grand total of four.

Giveaway ends Monday at midnight.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Some quilt block stuff & a giveaway!

Recently I signed up to be a part of a group of women (I think it is all women..hrmmmm) and join the Busy Little Quilting Bee. This group is set up so that one or two people mails out packages of fabric each month to all of the other members and those members then construct quilt blocks from the fabric and a set of instructions. We are in month one and I managed to polish off my blocks today. Now, I've never done "wonky" blocks and I am a bit nervous since I have really only been sewing for a couple of years, but here they are:

For Autum



For Dana (you all have to go to her soap shop and buy some of her goat milk soap...the citrus basil is especially divine!)
In other sewing news, I'm start up a giveaway this week for a d4 shirt. I would like to come up
a snazzy name for them. Anyways, please leave a comment with your name for the d4 shirt (seen in the post below this one). You can pick the size (kids sizes only) and it can be for either a boy or a girl (I'll change the fabric up for either one). You can get 3 extra bonus entries if you post about it on your blog. Remember to send me the link so I can add your 3 extra entries!

Giveaway will end next Monday, September 29th at midnight.

And the party is over...






It is always a sigh of relief once the festivities are over. As a kid, the letdown was harsh, but as an adult, it comes as a huge relief. The best part though it that Darsie had a fantastic birthday. Thank you to everyone to who left a message in response to her birthday post/story.


She had a great party full of family, hot dogs, hamburgers, chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, pin the tail on the donkey, a pinata, and as many juice boxes as a girl could drink. She played in the dirt, twirled in her "party dress" (her term, not mine, although I did make the skirt and appliqué the t-shirt).

The margaritas and wine kept the adults happy.

All was well. It was a great day.

Friday, September 19, 2008

From Tiny to Mighty: Darsie Turns Four!

Today is pretty monumental around this household as Darsie Ferrari W. turns FOUR! FOUR! I can't even believe it.

I found out I was pregnant with Darsie a couple of weeks after Jeff and I had moved into our first home. We were already in shell shock about everything that goes along with buying your first house (especially a fixer-upper) and then this. Boy, we were surprised. Our world changed even more in just a few moments. I had already helped paint, move a fridge, had had celebratory wine! I had already broken all the rules! The baby was due December 10th.

An uneventful pregnancy progressed. I had all the regular doctor visits, we found out we were having a girl! I had afternoon sickness, couldn't stomach garlic or onions (much to Jeff's chagrin). Late August we pulled up the carpet in our living room and put down a Pergo floor and installed a pellet stove. My belly grew.

The third week of September I had a doctor appointment where my blood pressure was high, even after multiple retakes. Blood was drawn, urine was tested, everything came back fine. I was told to keep an eye on it and to call if it got above a certain point or I started experiencing a long list of symptoms. We thought it was just stress. Nothing to be concerned about, right? I was 27 weeks pregnant.

Friday, September 17th we went after work to a Mariner's game with a couple we are good friends with. I think the Mariner's lost, all I really remember is REALLY REALLY wanting a churro and walking the arena repeatedly looking for this churro.

I had a horrible night. My shoulder hurt, I couldn't sleep, I was achy -- something just wasn't right. Jeff woke up in the morning and I relayed how I was feeling. We took my blood pressure and I was sure that my machine was broken. I can't remember the exact number, but it wasn't possible for blood pressure to be THAT high, right? Still, with everything I was feeling, I knew that something was wonky. I called into the doctor and was told that I needed to get a reliable blood pressure reading so Jeff hauled me off to the local fire station and they confirmed that it was high. Off to the hospital it was for us.

We took a ferry (missing it by seconds, even though we told them to hold the ferry as it was a medical emergency) and I was admitted immediately. I was already spilling protein in my urine. My blood pressure was indeed super high (I need to get the numbers from Jeff at some point). I was given a steroid shot for the baby's lungs within an hour of arrival. At this point, I was told we were just trying to hold on for as long as possible, keep the baby inside until it wasn't safe anymore. I was sick. The baby was sick. We called family and mine made a lightening trip up from California, simply arriving at the airport and telling them they needed to get to Washington, however, but as quickly as possible.

The night passed. There was a ton of monitoring, tons of blood tests. The news was that the baby was starting to show signs of stress. Today was the day that our baby, that we had named Darsie, was going to be born. My c-section was pushed back due to an emergency c-section. And so, at around 9pm, our baby Darsie was born at just 28 weeks. She weighed 1lb. 12oz.. Immediately she was intubated and taken to the NICU to be stabilized. On my way back from recovery, they took my bed up to the NICU and let me see her, beautiful under all those tubes and wires and beeping lights.


I remained in the hospital another week trying to get my blood pressure under control and stabilized. I was ultimately diagnosed with HELLP syndrome. While still in the hospital, we learned that our beautiful and perfect baby girl had experienced a major bleed in her brain, a grade IV IVH as was called. The worst grade of bleed diagnosed on the left side of her brain. We were given dire predictions and horrible outcomes. We were crushed. We were devastated. What did the future hold for us? What did it hold for our little girl? Nobody could tell us. Nobody would give us much hope.

We held her, we loved her, we knew that everything would be ok. She was perfect.













She grew, she thrived, and the day before Thanksgiving, she came home. Jeff kept her home and with minimal visits until Easter. We were stuck at home but we were keeping our baby girl healthy.

Jeff and I were married the following June and Darsie turned one in September. A diagnosis of hemiplegia cerebral palsy came. We weren't surprised. She simply wasn't meeting milestones and due to her early birth and bleed, she had been followed closely. We were expecting something.


She sat unassisted for the first time on her first birthday. She started playgroup at the Early Intervention center. She started OT through the Elks, eventually she started PT. She continued to thrive, to grow, to develop. She rolled everywhere until she finally in the later part of this year, crawled.


She turned two. Walked shortly after her second birthday. Continued her therapies, worked on some hydrotherapy stuff with Sheila, our Elk's OT. We had another baby, Elise.



She turned three. Went to the developmental preschool that is run through the school district. She rode the bus.


And today she is four. She isn't potty trained but we are working on it. She is a beautiful girl who loves her sister, her doo-doo (Papa), and her mama. She loves to color, she loves to draw, she loves to help. She loves the outside, riding her bike or her quad. She is great. I wouldn't change her any way. We had such terrible outcomes and while she has CP, she is Darsie. She is who she is. We still do PT once a week and she goes to developmental preschool. I wish you could all see who she is because she is wonderful.



She will always be my baby girl, my missy boo, my Darsie-doodle. I love her with every fiber of my being. I'm so lucky to know her and to love her and to spend everyday with her.

Happy birthday, Darsie! Happy FOUR! I can't wait to see what the future holds for you, or rather, what YOU hold for the future.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Full Party Planning Mode


Darsie's birthday is rapidly approaching and I'm planning on putting together a long post about her, her birth, her achievements, where she is at, and where she is going to be up next Friday. We are in full party planning mode at this time along with everything else that is happening. We have a lot of preparation for the next couple of weeks.

Just in the next week we: have a preschool meet & great, Darsie starts preschool, Elise has OT, Elise starts Early Intervention school, Darsie has PT, and I feel like I'm forgetting something. a lot of something perhaps.

The summer is fading around here. The weather is gorgeous, warm but with a hint of crispness that only hints at the arrival of Fall. The nights are getting into the 50s and even 40s. Fall is my favorite time of year. Perhaps this year I will learn to knit my all time favorite staple, sweaters.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Vacation is over...and a Winner!

We are back home (since late Monday) and I still feel like I'm recovering. It is like I simply can't wake up.

We went to the Oregon Dunes, specifically Spinreel Campground for two nights of camping and tons of quad riding. Great fun but who knew that riding a quad would be SUCH a workout? This was my first time really and I was pretty timid at the start but by the end I feel like I was holding my own. Some of the dunes are REALLY steep and when you don't know the limitations of the quad, can be intimidating. But, it is super fun to go as fast as possible over the sand.

Anyways, I promised apple patches to one lucky winner and that winner is Vanessa! I'll get them sent out this week along with some other packages. CONGRATS!

I think I will also start putting together a beginning quilt tutorial. How many people are interested in doing a quilt-a-long type thing? I could even put together fabric kits if there is enough interest.