Polar Vortex

Polar vortex = never ending winter!

Our wonderful region was the victim of a series of storms that kept recurring for many months without any relief.

 Three days before Christmas, a doozy of an ice storm came that knocked out the power.  We were getting a little worried after a while because Savannah was only a few weeks old and we didn't want it getting too cold for the kids inside the house.  When we called the power company, they said that crews were working hard, but with everyone affected, it could take weeks for everyone to have power restored.  That worried us even more.  We have food and water stored, but we don't have a gas stove (just a propane camp stove that shouldn't be used indoors) to heat food on, no fireplace, and our water comes from our well, thus our home can't receive water without being pumped electrically.  And we don't have a generator, and good luck finding one anywhere in a storm like this IF you can even leave your icy driveway.

 ^This sycamore tree out back used to be so tall and had fluffy leaves.  From the storm, the top became toothpick-like as the ice weighed it down.  One of its branches even fell on our neighbor's house (no damage thankfully!).

The ice was so thick and heavy that it broke many huge branches and bent all the branches that remained in the trees.

We decided as a family to pray for help.  Most of our friends also did not have power, and we knew that we couldn't stay in our home as the temperatures continued to plummet.  Dan helped check on our neighbors and we had a phone check system to help us keep track of members of our church and making sure they were ok.  I'll always remember the eerie sound from the storm.  With no power humming, you could hear everything.  We could hear the ice in the trees crackling and every once in a while we'd hear a huge THUD and know that another branch had fallen somewhere.  We were so grateful that we had our huge dying pine tree out front cut down in the fall.  That surely would have crashed somewhere and possibly on the house.

We kept huddled in the living room with our fleece blankets.  Dan and I also worried about what would happen with Christmas celebrations (thank goodness we had all our shopping done before Savi was born!).  Many tender mercies were given to us from our Heavenly Father.

 Dan was able to find that one set of power company workers were in the area and asked them to see if they could help get power up especially since we had a new baby. They checked us out and said no can do.  The ice weighed our power line down so much that it broke the mast off of our house that it connected to.  He said that he couldn't restore power until we got an electrician out to repair the mast.  He also said he would come back in a bit to see if we got it repaired so that he could turn it on.  So Dan got to calling electricians in the phone book since we don't personally know of any.  Every single person that Dan got a hold of wouldn't be able to come out to investigate until later into the week or the following week because of the demands of the storm and the holidays.  On the very last name in the book (which was a lot of names) a little old lady said that her husband was busy, but her son in a different city was also an electrician, so she gave us his number and told us to tell him that she said to call.  He was a God-send!  When he talked to Dan, he said that he would drop by in an hour or so on his way home from work, since we were on the way, and see what he could do.

Meanwhile, our friends the Drauts just in the next neighborhood got their power back on.  They told us to pack up and head to their house to keep warm until power came back on.  So we graciously agreed.  Our normally 74* home was in the low 50's and falling. (We got a few more offers as well from friends that lived further out, but fearing the icy drive, we decided to stay closer to home.)

The electrician came while the kids and I were taken to the Drauts and tried to fix the mast.  He was missing some parts and it was getting dark so he said he would need to come back in the morning to fix it.  As he was preparing to leave, the power guy came back.  He saw that it wasn't fixed, so he had to cut the line so that our neighbors could at least get their power.  Dan asked if they could please come back in the morning once we got it fixed.  He wasn't hopeful and said that his crew was actually from Gaylord and were called to work overtime in our area to help the company fix the area.  They would be heading back home after their next job that night.  Our area might get help again next week.  Dan told me that he was so down-hearted and turned to prayer, asking for help.  As soon as he got off his knees, he heard the power truck come by again and ran out.  The guy came back to tell Dan that we must be lucky or something.  His boss talked to him and told them to stop for the night and sleep in a hotel and finish the one job in the morning.  He said if we could have the mast completed by the time that job was done he would get our power back up.

We ended up sleeping over in the Draut's nice warm basement.  I know the 7 of us were a bit noisy, but we were so grateful to be warm and looked after.  On the way over to the Draut's, our next door neighbor, Terry, came over with a huge pot of chili that he made knowing we didn't have a gas stove.  Dan and I just cried.  We were certainly being looked after and our prayers were being answered.  It's amazing how we all help each other when it is really needed.  Tragedy really brings people, even strangers, together.

The next morning everything worked in a timely fashion.  Our electrician showed up and fixed everything quickly, and few minutes later the power guys showed up and were able to give us power too.

We are so grateful that everything happened the way it did.  We gave many thanks to God and his tender mercies for our family.  Many others were not as blessed.  We only went 30+ hours with no power and were able to have a warm Christmas and New Years, many went as long as 10 days without power from that storm.

I think we may need to invest in a generator.

Temperatures were crazy low this winter.  The LOWEST I have ever witnessed before!  This day was -33 with the wind chill.  I think the lowest of this winter was somewhere around -45.  Yowsa!  Many advisories warned everyone to not be exposed to the outside for longer than a few minutes or frostbite would occur.  Kind of scary!

Blessing and More Savannah Pictures

 On Dec. 1, 2013, Savannah was blessed at Church.

 Savi is so tiny!  She looks like a little doll.

 My mom had fun with the grandkids while I rested and recovered.

 Another thumb sucker??

 Just chillin

 When I knew that Savi was really going to come to our home and I was assured that she would make it, I made this cute snuggle outfit.  I was so excited for her to use it!

Nama and Papa Earl got this snow outfit for Savi in size 0-3 months and she is so petite that it swamped her all winter!  :) It sure kept her snuggly warm though!

Grandparent love!

 Even love from friends that have become our family (Tom & Stephanie Smith).

 Must be a happy dream!  

sweet smiles!

 lots of loving snuggles with mom and dad!

 Little turkey

Santa's Little Helper

Shenanigans - Avery Style

Ever since Avery could move (which started very early!) she has been on the go.  She has always been observant of her surroundings.  When she was in the nursery at church, her teacher Sue Draut said that you could just see the wheels turning in her mind as she watched and waited.  Then she would do what she wanted when she knew you weren't looking her way.  She continues this, but in an exponential way!  She is forever keeping us on our toes!

Don't let her snuggles deceive you!  :)  She is a sweet and loving girl who loves to snuggle.

 She loves to play games on my tablet while I'm waiting at the doctor's office.

And she loves to be girly!  Right down to making sure I paint her toes with sparkles.

Then when your least expecting it (but now we always expect it), she does things like:

 Unscrew the light bulbs off her ceiling fan using her bunk bed ladder and chew on the metal part.  She unscrewed the rest of them and hid them in her bed.  She also took the mini light bulb from her night bulb and broke it on the floor.  Suffice it to say, for her safety, I don't allow light bulbs in her room anymore.  It's pretty dark!

 She likes to tear apart books while in her room.  On one occasion, I found that she's not partial with paper.  I found that she had snuck the dollar that her Nama Elliott had given her and ripped it to shreds too. When trying to piece it together I found a large hole.  I searched for it but couldn't find it.  When I asked her what happened to it, she said her tummy hurt because she ate a part of it.  Bleh!  Hopefully she learned importance of keeping our money whole when I let the boys spend their money at the dollar store and she didn't get anything because her dollar was unusable.

 When insisting on getting into our van the wrong way when I advised her otherwise, she ended up getting her fingers accidentally smashed by her brother.  My poor baby!  

 Because I had to take all light bulbs out of her room, I put this non-light bulb type night light in her room. Yup, destructo girl struck again!

Some other treasures of mischief that Avery has performed:

-At bed time, dousing an entire pack of new toilet paper with water making a soppy blobby mess.

-We ended up reversing the lock on her room door so that we "lock" her in until she falls asleep to keep her and our things safe.  She found that if she climbed up and took a glow in the dark star off her ceiling she could unlock the door and get out when others were sleeping. We took the stars down. With wheels turning, she has found other ways to unlock her door, and has been VERY creative.  She has used hair barrettes, child-proof (ha ha) outlet covers, toys and books she has snuck into bed, a picture frame from her wall, and her doll's hand.  Oy!  And this is just the stuff we know about!  Who knows what she'll think of next.

-We have learned to frisk her and her bed before naps and bed-time because she will snatch anything to get away with it.  We will find odd things in there or hidden in her room.  Once, when we had family visiting, we found a food item missing and couldn't find it anywhere!  I felt like I should check on Avery.  Sure enough!  She had snuck chips and cookies into her bed and tried to shove as many as she could in her mouth when she heard me coming upstairs.  On another occasion, I was doing yard work during nap time and when I was finished I cleaned up and was going to use my tablet but couldn't find it.  I again had the thought to check on Avery.  She had gotten out of her room somehow and took my tablet and was watching PBS shows on it.  How she knew how to do that I'll never know.  I just hope she didn't purchase anything with it.  I guess I'll find out!  And yet another instance, our friends the Smiths were watching the kids for us while I was in AZ and Dan had to work.  While Stephanie took the boys to school, Tom stayed to watch Frozen with Avery.  Avery waited until Tom inevitably fell asleep and then raided their kitchen and ate an ENTIRE family sized bag of Oreos!  She had refused to eat her breakfast, so I guess she was biding her time until she could have something better.

Who knows what she'll come up with next!  We sure love her, but she certainly keeps us on our toes.  Did I mention that my hair has lots of gray!  :)

Jaundice

When we were discharged from the hospital, Savannah had a little bit of jaundice.  The doctors had repeatedly poked her to get bilirubin readings.  They told us that she was still in a normal range and that they weren't worried about it.  All our other children had a little jaundice, but were able to sit in the sun a bit and were fine.  Savi's our first winter baby. In fact like the Disney movie Frozen, her birth started an eternal winter.  Just kidding, but the coldest winter ever started whilst we were in the hospital, hence the sun wouldn't be out much.

Anyway, at our pediatrician check up 2 days later, they expressed concern over her color and ordered us to get yet another poke at a lab to get a bili score.  I believe it ended up being an 18 or something like it.  I think it was 11 or 12 at the hospital.  The doctor called us that evening and told us that he set everything up for us and we were to head to Sparrow hospital as soon as possible for her to spend the night under bili lights.  I think I went a bit hysterical.  My friend Sue Joseph was at our home, bringing us dinner, while I was on the phone with the Dr., Dan was at work, and my mom was at a cub scout awards ceremony with Donovan.  Sue saved me.  She took Savi and watched the littles while I repacked my hospital bag because I would need to stay the night as well to be with her and be able to feed her. I called Dan to come home quickly, and then called Mom to let her know what was going on.  We ate quickly and then Dan took us to the different hospital.

 My poor baby!  I am forever grateful that she was a newborn and as such would sleep pretty much whenever she wasn't hungry.  The jaundice also contributes to sleepiness and lack of hunger.  The more she's under the lights, the less we have to be there.

 Savi also became attached to this orange binky.  She would not keep any kind of pacifier in her mouth except this one (She still won't and it's the only one like it that we have. We've bought similar ones, but she won't have them because they are not the same.).  I'm also very grateful that she was able to be comforted by it.  I know she just wanted to be held, and it broke my heart that I wasn't able to do that except while she was eating.  It was a horrible overnight stay!  I was in such pain from my surgery and was having a rough go with it that I could barely get up and walk and had to deal with all of this and lack of sleep.  I seemed ok, but I felt like a basket-case.

There was nothing good about this stay except that it helped her jaundice lessen.  I was with Savi when they had to give her an IV in her ankle!  It was horrible!  I cried.  I had to hold her down while she cried.  Then, because Sparrow is a teaching hospital we got EVERY Tom, Dick, and Harry coming to visit.  We didn't get to sleep much.  I guess they must not use bili lights much because we got all sorts of students coming to check out the process because they had never seen them used before.  I really hate teaching hospitals!  Every hour or two a new set of looky-loos would come in to poke and prod my baby and ask the same questions over and over.  Every blood test they did I prayed that the levels would go down significantly so we could get out of there.  We were finally able to leave around 8 the following evening.  And to top off our "wonderful" experience, they billed us an arm and a leg.  We were told by someone at Sparrow that since we were recently discharged from her delivery and this should have been caught there, that it would just act as a continuation of that stay because it was within a certain time frame.  NOT! We got charged an extra hospital co-pay because it was a different hospital (even though McLaren didn't have these resources) and all the rest of the costs totalling more than a thousand dollars in addition to the already large bill from McLaren from my surgical delivery and all.  Stinkin insurance and hospitals! Not to mention the screw-up from our insurance just over McLaren's bill. They forgot to add Savannah on our insurance and were charging her in full plus a double co-pay (for her and me separate) all because she was born during Dan's work's open enrollment for insurance.  What a nightmare!  I am grateful that I look at everything on bills though.  If I thought to trust the insurance companies to put everything accurately we would have been in the hole another $5K!  Sorry about the soap box.  As I type, Savi was born almost 10 months ago and it is just finally getting solved.  What a pain!

Something light-hearted that happened during our stay, during a midnight feeding, I changed a poopy diaper and about freaked because her normally yellow poo was now bright orange!  When the nurse came in, I asked her if I needed to worry and was it bloody or were her insides being affected by the UV lights?  I had to save all of the diapers to be weighed, so she checked it out.  She was very nice and didn't laugh at me, though I laughed at my stupid, sleep-deprived self.  The yellow poo under the blue glow of the bili lights made it look orange, but it wasn't.  I had forgotten that I wasn't looking at it under normal lights!

Dan used Savi's eye shield to see what it was like. Goof!  He couldn't see anything.

Overall, I'm not a fan of Sparrow.  The regular nurses were sweet and nice, but the students were annoying.  I'm grateful that Savannah's bili levels were able to go down and we could finally go home and get back to normal life.  I don't want any of us to see another hospital for a long time!

Welcome To Our Family, Savannah Lorene!

(please excuse the stretch marks! I think of them as my battle scars.)

During my last month of Savannah's pregnancy, I was more and more uncomfortable and I started having more worries.  My blood pressure was pretty high and there was protein found in my urine, which is never a good sign.  So I was ordered rest as much as possible, no housework, or stressful situations.  My doctor knew that I had 4 other kids that needed me at home, so she just asked for me to TRY.  I tried.  After 2 weeks of high blood pressure I went to my 38 week appointment.  I was already dilated to a 5 (which if you know me, is totally normal a month prior to birth), but combined with my blood pressure, it made my doctor very nervous for Savannah's and my health.  She told me she'd like to induce me but the hospital has a rule against inducing before 39 weeks unless there is a valid emergency.  She left the room to consult with the doctor in charge of the facility.  When she came back, she told me to go home, eat a good lunch, find someone to watch my kids, get my husband and head to McLaren Hospital because we were going to have a baby today.  She was off work at noon, so she would meet us there.  So 11 days before my due date, it became baby time!  Yippee!  I was also very happy to not be rushing in labor to the hospital.  That was always one of the worries in the back of my mind because I only had 30 min of labor with Avery and had her within 3 minutes of getting to the hospital.  I didn't know if I'd make it at all  if I went into labor on my own.  Another plus was that my mom was flying in tonight to help out for 3 weeks in hopes that baby would be coming soon.  I was glad that things were falling in place.

 All hooked up and ready to go!  Dr. Tremp broke my water and let the pitocin do its job.  How do I always forget how much labor hurts!!  I'm not a fan of epidurals on myself (it didn't go so well with Donovan's birth) so I go pain medication free.  Dan is a great helper through contractions. He's my hero, and these ones seemed to be a doozy!  Maybe I'm just getting old!  After an hour I felt a huge pain in my side and the need to push, so Dr. Tremp came in and checked and it wasn't time yet.  She looked a little confused and said it felt like there was another sac of water to be popped. So she again went to break more water. Not much came out.  She left me to labor some more.  Not much longer (maybe 20-30 min) I was only getting about a minute of rest between heavy contractions and I again felt the need to push. So Dr. came in and checked.  She looked at me and said that she had had a feeling after the last check that something wasn't right.  Miss Savannah had so much room in my uterus that she used the last bits of amniotic fluid to turn around and was now breech.  There was no more fluid left for her to be moved.  I was under strict orders to not push at all.  I was completely dilated but now had to be prepped for an emergency cesarean section.  Meanwhile, I was still having horrible contractions with practically no rest in-between.  And I couldn't push though my body kept yelling at me to.

My doctor was awesome!  She never left my side.  I was so scared.  They sent Dan away so he could get scrubs and mask and everything on so that he could be with me.  Then they whisked me away to the operating room.  I was trying to do everything they told me to.  They had to switch me to the operating table where they were very patient with my contractions and trying not to add to the hurt. Dr. Tremp quickly scrubbed in and then would hold my hand as the contractions kept plowing along. Then the anesthesiologist told me to be still for him to give me a spinal. (Needles and I do not get along!) He started feeling along my spine for the right spot and I just remember saying "hold on a minute please" because I was having a huge contraction and didn't know if I could be still enough while he poked.  Out of the blue he says, " you know you have scoliosis, right?"  WHAT?  Isn't that the crooked spine that they always check for in elementary gym class.  I had NEVER been told I had it, nor does anyone in my family have it.  He sure gave me a distraction so that I wouldn't think about the pain -almost. (A side note: A few months later as I went to a chiropractor, it was confirmed that I did indeed NOT have scoliosis. Silly anesthesiologist!)  

As soon as the needle poked through, I was in immediate bliss!  The epidural with Dono worked but only after 10 minutes or so (and then took hours after his birth to fade away).  This was immediate and felt so wonderful!  I told Mr. Anesthesiologist thank you.  Then they had me lay with my hands spread apart and draped a big blue sheet to block my head from looking at the rest of my body.  I was getting worried that Dan wasn't there, but just as I thought it, they let him in to sit by my head.  He asked if he could watch.  They said yes, as long as he sat down.  They'd had too many "strong" dads pass out from watching.  I could feel a little tugging as they started, but that was it.  No pain.  No problem!  I loved it!  I just wish I could watch!  Dan described it to me though.  He said it looked so weird having them open me up and fold my skin over to get Savannah out.  It took less than 5 minutes.  When they pulled Savi out, Dan said she was Barney purple.  She didn't cry much either.  I was a little nervous.  I kept asking if she was ok.  They kept reassuring me that she was ok, she just needed to get warmed up.  I told Dan to leave me and stay with her since I couldn't go anywhere.  Dan forgot his phone and camera with the rushed surgery, so the pictures we have are when she's a few minutes old.  Dan was able to bring her to me after a little bit so I could finally meet my princess.  I was so in awe!  I still had my arms spread out, but tried to touch her.  I gave her an awkward  hold, but felt a little weak, so I gave her a kiss.  The anesthesiologist told Dan to take her.  I felt really warm and tired all of a sudden.  Then I felt better, but I kept feeling weird.  I didn't realize until later that my blood pressure was going crazy.  Dan told me later that it was a little scary to watch me.  My bp would get really low and I turned as white as a sheet, so the anesthesiologist would pump meds into my IV, then my bp would get too high and he'd have to put different meds in.  Apparently it kept going back and forth, and he was working hard to keep me at the right level.  The nurses needed to check out Savi while I was getting put back together, so I told Dan to stay with her and I would see them later.

I tried to carry on a conversation with the doctors as they worked on me.  To my recollection, I was coherent.  I remember telling them that while they were in there they could accidentally give me a tummy tuck. They just laughed. Darn!  :)  Dr. Tremp kept telling me what a stinker Savi was for turning around and causing so much worry.  When they cut me open she was stuck up high in my abdomen. But that she was just perfect even for being a stinker.  She also told me that when she tried to break my water the second time, it apparently wasn't a bag of water at all but Savannah's little bum cheek.  She now has a little scar from the poking stick.  :(  When we talked some more, we both agreed that the huge pain in my side while in labor must have been her rotation because she had been head down constantly the whole month and even when I first got to the hospital.

My perfect little rainbow baby.

She was born on Nov. 15, 2013 at 15:15 (3:15pm).  I wonder if 15 will be her lucky number?

 She is so tiny!  6 pounds 11 ounces

 As soon as Daddy talked to her and touched her, she immediately calmed down.  Daddy was the first to hold her and thus became her favorite.

 My poor baby had to wait a while to eat because it took a while for me to get fixed up. :(

I remember the doctor saying that taking her out is quick and easy, but you don't want to make any mistakes when putting everything back together, so it takes a while longer.

 Me holding Savannah for the first time in the recovery room.  I was in there for a while so they could make sure my levels remained stable.

 Daddy!

 My sweet Savannah Lorene Earl

A few months ago we thought I was having a boy, but had a dream that it was a girl.  When I asked her what her name was (we couldn't agree on a girl name) she just smiled and I thought of an old movie I loved called "Savannah Smiles".  I asked her if her name was Savannah and she smiled again and I felt that it was a yes.  I woke Dan up immediately (at 2am) to tell him my dream.  He just brushed it off and said that we were probably having a boy still.  So when the ultrasound showed a girl, I knew she would be our Savannah (Savi for short).  Her middle name would be Lorene for 2 reasons.  All of our children have at least 1 family name from somewhere in our ancestry.  We combined our mother's names Lorraine and Irene to make Lorene.  The second reason we loved it as well was because my great-aunt, that raised my grandma, is also named Lorene.

The kids got to meet their newest baby sister that evening once Nama Elliott flew in.  Tom and Stephanie Smith were watching the kids till she came, so they came to meet Savannah too, but somehow we didn't get their picture at the hospital.  The kids were going through some nasty colds that day (ear infections and croup) so they had to wash good and wear face masks so that they wouldn't get her sick. They were soooo excited to finally meet her!  It made me a little sad that we didn't get to have this happiness with Evelyn.  I realized just how much pain we had all gone through and still do.  And how much joy and healing little Savi brings to us as well.

 Big brother Donovan

 Big brother Elliott

 Big brother Roswell.  I love how you can see his smile even through the mask.  He would tell EVERYONE at school about his new baby.  We let him bring a picture and I think he showed everyone in the school.  Such a proud brother.

 Big sister Avery.  She giggled as she held her.

Nama Elliott and her 9th grandbaby.

 Dr. Stacey Tremp and the little 'stinker'.  She told me that she never usually holds her patient's babies outside of delivery, but she just had to hold this cutie. She's been through our sad and happy journeys too and wanted to be with us to celebrate.  I am so glad that I switched offices to stay with her when she moved to a different practice.

 Our little rainbow baby!

This is an explanation of what a 'rainbow baby' is from fellow moms in a group I belong to that have also lost a child:

"Rainbow Babies" is the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it doesn't mean the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy and hope.

A rainbow baby is a blessing given to a family after losing a baby in any way. It's the promise of hope and new life, second chances and a new beginning. 

A family who has conceived after losing a child will never forget that child, but rather, will appreciate their children even more because they understand the deep pain of loss.

 Sweet baby!

Time to go home in the cute blanket Aunt Vanessa made!  :)

**My thoughts about a c-section: a wonderful process! Quick and once they do the spinal, no pain. Granted most scheduled c-sections don't have to go through labor in the first place.  However, the after effects are awful! You don't realize how much you depend upon your stomach muscles until you can't use them.  All the nerve endings were severed and the muscle cut.  It took at least 6 weeks if not more to feel mostly like myself and be able to move normally again.  I would assume that repeat c-sections are easier just like repeat regular births get easier to recover from.  Although my doctor said that if I choose to have more children I would be fine to have a regular birth and not have to have a c-section again, I almost think a c-section is preferable.  Dan and I have not decided yet if we want more children or if we are done, we have them one at a time and are not in any hurry to make that decision.  We may not be the best parents, we have our faults, but we try harder each day to be better than we were yesterday.  Every child God gives us is precious and we cherish each of them and have plenty of love to give them and room for more if desired.