Fast forward to Sunday night and we were headed to the hospital! So yes, this is probably first mention of it here, but Spencer arrived very early Monday morning! (I had posts scheduled to cover for this occasion.) I have already been released (read: kicked out), but Spencer is still in the NICU. Yes, I will post my birth story and photos soon! You can find some photos by following the first link...
Virtual Benefit for Momma Jorje
One of my parent friends (Joella from Fine and Fair) that I met while volunteering for Natural Parents Network posted this virtual benefit for our family. (She did ask for permission to use personal information and photographs.) I was moved to tears by the effort and especially the kind words of our mutual friends used in the post. And then... the response!Joella posted links to our benefit on her own Facebook pages and on some community pages, asking people to share the link further. The link was shared, shared, and shared again! There were at least 30 shares on Facebook alone! Others even passed the information along on their blogs! I could not believe the response!
I had initially told Joella that we would not likely use gifted money for a hotel because I didn't know how long Spencer would be in the NICU and wanted to be cautious spending it too fast. I explained we'd likely use it for fuel. And then I actually lived the first night home without Spencer! And the money flowed in for support! My husband pressed me to check into hotels. I am able to miss far less time and much needed nursing sessions with Spencer thanks to Joella and so many others!
Anyway... WOW! You can click the link for some more details (and photos!).
Route Sixty-Sicks
Another dear friend from the Natural Parents Network team asked me if there was anything she could do to help me. I asked her for a very personal favor. Our daughters have a LOT in common and have recently become fast friends on Facebook. I asked her if she might be willing to take my daughter for a vacation at her place. I've hardly been home and feel awful about only seeing Tyler long enough to say goodnight. She has been awesome about the situation, but misses me when I'm gone.
Joni Rae (of Kitchen Witch) jumped at the opportunity to help in a way that only she could! She packed her kids up at 4 o'clock in the morning to come fetch Tyler for a vacation. Our daughters have been having a great time ever since!
There is no way I could have planned something special for Tyler for New Years Eve, so this way she gets to celebrate in a fun way, with a dear friend!
Click the link to read the very strange tale of Joni Rae coming to fetch Tyler.
Update: Virtual Benefit for Momma Jorje
Joella asked me for an update so she could write a post for her blog. I gave her some news... then I got MORE exciting news. I was on my way out the door to run some errands, so Joella got to share a lot of news with the world before we did.You can see my favorite photo so far and a photo of Spencer's foot. You can also get the latest scoop, since I haven't written anything for my blog yet.
Thank you for your support (be it comments, prayers, healing energy, happy thoughts, or cash money) at this rough time for us. I am amazed at the outpouring of support and the number of people that check in with me every day for Spencer's progress. He has a lot of people pulling for him! Thank you!
