Busy Bees

This week has been crazy! A lot going on in the Folden household. I wish that I would have gotten some pictures of Dustin cleaning our icy, snow-packed driveway because then I could have done an "our week in pictures" post. But, I do have some pictures of the events of the week so I will sprinkle them in here are there.

Our week began with a winter storm. We only got a small blast of arctic weather compared to many other cities in the U.S. but it was still quite a big storm for Lafayette. Most businesses were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Usually I watch a little boy in the mornings, but his mom's work was closed, so it was just me and Mackenna hunkered down in our warm little house watching the pretty snowflakes fall to the ground. On Thursday I hosted a brunch at my house with my friends, Dawn & Aubrey. The kids played while we enjoyed brunch. It was a much needed "Mommy Time" after the two snow days that kept us all inside.

On Thursday Mackenna had to get some blood drawn to test for a couple allergies (milk, wheat, and gluten). Dustin blessed me so much by taking Mackenna to get her blood drawn so that I wouldn't have to endure seeing her in such pain. He said that she was a trooper, but that there were lots of tears. The nurse couldn't find her vein, so it took longer and I am sure was more painful. She's got her mommy's veins. Here are a few pictures of our little trooper with her Tweety bird band aid.

... And one of her reading one of her favorite books, upside down! Made me giggle!

Since we moved into our house in October, we've been saving little by little for a water softener and a dishwasher. It worked out for us to rent a water softening system, which left us money to purchase a dishwasher (yippee!) and so, on Thursday we purchased a dishwasher and Friday the water softener was installed. Friday night, Dustin and I (ok, mostly Dustin) installed the dishwasher. I am so proud of him! He did such a great job! He read the instructions, made a game plan, and an hour or so later we had a fully functioning dishwasher. I've done three loads of dishes already. Here are some snapshots of my handy man!

And then, Friday night I moved a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer and an hour later checked on it in the dryer and there was no warm air in the dryer. The air was cold and the clothes were still wet! I was freaking out! So on Saturday morning, Dustin googled our dryer's model number and followed some troubleshooting tips. Was the breaker tripped? No. Was the air vent clogged? No. We vacuumed it out and there was still no heat. After the first two "easy" steps, Dustin turned off the electricity to the dryer, moved it, took it apart, and checked a bunch of electrical things. Way over my head! But, he did find out that the heating element wasn't working. So, I searched for a Maytag store in town and called them up and they had our part in stock! Praise the Lord!

We quickly packed up our tired baby girl, picked up the part, stopped by a CVS Minute Clinic (I've been sick for three weeks, but got a prescription so hopefully will be doing better soon), stopped at a salon for a quick haircut for Dustin, and returned home. Dustin successfully installed the new heating element and voila, we have warm air in our dryer again! Here's some pictures of my handsome boy fixing our dryer. I know I am bias, but I sure think he's cute when he's fixing things. :-)

And now, we're home. And we're resting. Because we are both exhausted. Yes, I have laundry to do (since I couldn't do it yesterday), and yes, there are probably ten other things I could be doing. But, we've done a lot this week and we have a lot to do tomorrow and next week. So for right now, resting is the perfect thing for us to be doing.

Welcome Mackenna Grace!

Introducing Mackenna Grace
Born on April 13, 2010 at 10:14 A.M.
7 pounds 1 ounce and 19 1/2 inches long

I went into "pre-labor" on Friday, April 9th and we were sent home from the hospital on April 9th and April 10th for lack of progress. On April 12th around 1:00 AM we came to the hospital due to contractions that were closer together and were admitted! Praise the Lord! The plan was to be given Pitocin at 7:00 AM because my contractions still were not strong enough. At about 6:00 AM we were woken with a room full of nurses due to a serious deceleration of Mackenna's heartbeat. After finding baby's heartbeat again via an internal monitor, we were both watched very closely by our amazing nurses! Around 9:35 AM after another concerning deceleration of Mackenna's heartbeat the doctor called and said that the labor was causing too much stress on baby and ordered an imminent (but not emergency) C-section. At 10:14 AM, Mackenna Grace, was born! She is beautiful!

When she was born, she had a fever and was sent to observation in the NICU. Thankfully, I was allowed to nurse her and they would bring her to our room to feed. Her first round of blood work came back borderline, so the did another round later in the day, which showed an increase in a protein that indicated an infection. She was immediately put on antibiotics and was admitted to the NICU. Now, we are going to her for her feedings due to an IV in her umbilical cord and to decrease the risk of a secondary infection. She is doing great! Her temperature is staying around normal and when it is "high" it only hangs out around 99 degrees. She is eating well, responding well, and is known by the nurses as a "happy and alert baby."What joy that brings to a mother's heart! I have also been informed that she's won the "Cute Baby Girl" award. :-)
The plan is to keep her in the NICU and on antibiotics for 10 days. We are waiting for results back from a 48 hour blood culture that will tell us what type of infection we're fighting. We'll find that out on Friday morning. Her initial lumbar puncture screening came back normal, which is a HUGE praise! That means that the infection hasn't reached her brain. Right now, they only see infection in her lungs.

God's sovereignty has been so evident to us over the past few days. First, our doctor arrived to check on us right as Mackenna's first heart deceleration occurred and in the scariness of those few moments, it was a blessing to know that our doctor was there. I was on penicillin during labor due to a positive Group B Strep test and Mackenna's doctor said that she received both doses and that probably helped her start fighting the infection sooner. There was no way that we could have planned that, but God knew, and we are thankful. Also, the fact that I am able to breast feed and that Mackenna is eating so well. The colostrum will give her lots of nutrients to help fight the infection. Then, the Lactation Consultant said that my colostrum was very thick and rich, which is GREAT! Again, another blessing from God. Obviously I have no control over the quality of my colostrum! Another thing is that Mackenna was just assigned a hospital pediatrician because the pediatrician that we chose works with a different medical group. Well, the doctor that was assigned to care for Mackenna is so caring, compassionate, and thorough. She does not want to leave anything unknown. So, she's been taking extra steps to check every possible problem and to get Mackenna healthy. She wisely decided to do a second round of blood work, even though Mackenna's first round was only "borderline." We are so overwhelmed by God's obvious hand in this situation. Praise the Lord!

Dustin and I have already started growing together as parents and it such a huge blessing to see our relationship deepen in Christ as we care for our daughter!

I will be posting lots of pictures and updates as we continue on this journey of parenthood. To God be the glory!

04.06.10

The Re-institution of Date Night

So, I'll just be honest, we haven't done the best job of "dating" after marriage. Before seminary we had most of our evenings free and would spend lots of time together. Since we've started seminary, we still do spend time together and enjoy activities together, but it's rather sporadic and not "planned" or "focused" time together. Well, as you know, we are days away from becoming first-time parents and the realization that our time of being foot-loose and fancy-free is dwindling has us realizing the importance of "planned" and "focused" time together. So, we re-intituted Date Night. It's been fun! Here are a few pictures!

Date #1: Dinner at Chick-fil-A and a stroll on the Levy