Monday I started my evening shift.. 1400-2200 It was a titch rough waking up to get there that early. Of course as most of you know I am one of the Bereavement Counselors, so it wasn't surprising when the first patient I get on my new shift is a term demise. OF COURSE, I don't mind at all, I feel this has been my calling to work with these couples, and after all, my previous 2 night shifts I had the all American couple who was married, loved each other and actually wanted the baby they were having. So I was due to have a sad story... Please say a quick prayer for Baby Zacks family, as they cope with their loss.

On to WONDERFUL news, I went to the NICU after work and got there in time for her PM cares, so her CPAP was off, and she was wide awake, and she was Feisty... She is so cute, I think I love her more and more each time I see her. I would talk to her and tell her not to pull her feeding tube out, and I swear she would get this crooked little SMILE and pull right on the tube! Thursday her mommy and daddy and I are having lunch and then going to spend some time with her, and lucky for me I work Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I get to visit her each night for her PM cares!

Today I had my second appointment with the Fat Doctor, not the one I used to see, I'm seeing a new one, and he is a cutie... Anyhow, I start my new diet next week, I was anticipating starting it this week, but the new Doc and I discussed me seeing my PCP first, so I am going to meet with her on Monday so keeping my fingers crossed to start on Tuesday, because I want to be thinned down just a titch before I get on the OR table again.. YIKES!!

It's been so fun being home at night!! Even last night, coming home and everyone was still awake!! Ahhhh this is going to be good....

Miss Giovanna

Here is the long awaited picture of beautiful GiovaNnA, taken Christmas day!

Christmas this year, was by far one of the best I have ever had.... It started on Christmas Eve with a wonderful hour long visit with my favorite little baby girl in the NICU, Miss Giovanna, and her mommy and Daddy. Then I worked for 4 hours and headed to my parents for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. My parents made a phenomenal meal of prime rib, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, and croissant's.... Miss Bethany made a homemade pie for dessert. We then retired to the family room to play Wii! Normally we spend the evening playing family games, but this year we brought our Rock Band and our Wii over... My parents had a lot of fun, we have never laughed so hard.. My father and Mindy actually can rock out on the bass! Here are some shots of the Wii fun....

My parents bowling

Danielle and our baby Bella


Danielle bowling

We then went to the living room to open some of our gifts... It was a very different Christmas because we put a monetary limit on our gifts... So our gifts were very thoughtful this year, people really put some thought into what we got each other....

Then the kids got ready and went to midnight mass. Mindy and I stayed behind and hung out with our mom talking.. We all decided in advance that we were going to stay the night at my parents.. They recently redecorated our old bedrooms, so we were excited to try out our new rooms..

Christmas morning finally came, and we woke up, had some coffee and waited for everyone to wake up. We took our traditional morning picture of the girls dressed in matching pajamas. We then opened gifts and had a great breakfast..

Christmas

I will post more later, as I am off to get ready and go visit Miss Giovanna before work, and of course her mommy and daddy! Here is a titch of a preview of Christmas and my Christmas blog....

Danielle and Bella

I was on a mission today to find this verse on a plaque for Giovanna's "shelf" in the NICU! Well after searching the world, I decided to make it myself, so I bought a greeting card with the verse and a cute white frame, and made it the way I wanted it for her bedside out of ribbons and such... She is a precious angel, I sat by her side while she took a tube feeding of breast milk today! You should see this gorgeous little miracle!! She is doing so well and so strong!

Praise to God, for protecting Heather and baby Giovanna! Giovanna was born on 12/12 at 1256pm today! She is absolutely gorgeous! She weighs 3 pounds 4 ounces. She was born at 28 weeks even! Which was our original goal date for her. She extubated herself within minutes of being intubated, and she is only on CPAP. Thank you all for your prayers, please continue to prayer for her fight!

Baby Bean update

Baby bean is 27 5/7 HOORAY!! Praise God for all of his wonderful blessings throughout this time. I took them baked goods yesterday since they wouldn't be able to bake for the holidays. They shared a story last night of the neighbors decorating their house for the holidays. This couple is so very loved.

I continue to ask God to hold this baby in his hands and protect her while she grows strong inside her mommy's belly.

Monday she was measuring 2 pounds 7 ounces!

Ok, the real New DO

KUDOS to you Erin for being so sweet LOL :)

New Hair Cut!!!

I cut my hair today... I was wanting to do something drastic, because that is what I always do when I am going through a "change" so here goes!!!!!!!!

Drum roll please... Here is the before.....

And here is after.......

A borrowed quote from someone else's blog

"I am thankful for friendships where my loving friend can risk the relationship to tell me the truth because she loves me so much more than the relationship"

I read this on someone's blog last night and it really hit home... Ironically in speaking to my sister today, I spoke this quote because she spoke of having to be truthful to her best friend about something even if it cost her the friendship....

Desert girls painting pottery.....

For all you "Desert Girls" those of you who I didn't see this weekend... We are meeting at 2pm at the Creative Hands pottery studio off of Gilbert and Warner,

Creative Hands Pottery Studio

1166 S. Gilbert Road, Suite 104

Gilbert, AZ 85296

Compilation of thoughts....

Today is December 1st, it's been an interesting 2 days because I've had a lot on my mind, and I have been keeping to myself, and incidentally not feeling well, which dawned on me tonight, maybe I'm not feeling well because of the things on my mind... Thanksgiving was amazing, and I felt so blessed to be at home with my family. For those of you who are my close friends, you know how horrible Thanksgiving was last year with him, and having to go to his home in Michigan, it was pretty crummy, in hindsight however, I learned a very valuable lesson. I guess thinking about last year and the holidays got me to start thinking about what an eventful year I have had.

I have had a lot of people come in and out of my life, and I can sit here now and say it is a titch sad however I can understand that it is for the best. Something I most recently realized, is I can't be upset with someone for not being who I thought they were when in reality I created who they were in my mind.... In my mind I created this wonderful Christian, church going, God fearing, faithful person when in reality, that person wasn't real... Therefor I struggle to morn the loss of that relationship because I actually am wondering if that relationship was real or not.. So I am at a place where I keep saying, I know I should be sad, mad, glad etc it's over but I have none of those emotions.

I have never EVER lived with regrets in my life, but something I have been pondering the past few days, did I let people influence me to do something that perhaps it wasn't the right time to do? I let a few of my "friends" at the time convince me to make some major life changes, now I am to sit back alone and wonder, where are those people now? If they were so vested in my life that many months ago, why aren't they a part of my life now, as I live with the results?


I spent most of yesterday sleeping because I couldn't sleep Friday night. Once I had the house to myself I cleaned the house and decorated the house. It was a bittersweet moment for me because as some of you know from last year, I really really wanted to do the theme of my Christmas tree red and silver. We have always had themes to our trees, and it was time to purchase a new tree and change themes, so after much MUCH debate, I compromised and he won and we did a bright colorful tree (BLAH) not what I wanted.. I knew I would be buying a house within the year and so I had been stockpiling red things for the new house, kitchen towels, rugs, pillows, candles, measuring cups etc. So anyhow, because I couldn't justify donating all new stuff so soon, I decided to keep the tree and the colorful stuff, and put it up last night... So sure there are a few memories tied to him with it, but what can I do right? Next year I will have the tree of my dreams, with red and silver ornaments and trimmings! I actually am really excited to hit the sales this year the day after Christmas and buy all the RED and SILVER stuff I can :)

After decorating with what I had, I needed to run out to Kohls and to Walmart to finish off the downstairs bathroom, it's pretty fun to have a "theme bathroom" as well, I wish I would have taken pictures of it for Halloween it was super cute, and for Christmas this year it is blue and silver snowflakes, totally adorable! On my way out the door, a very close old friend of mine called, and honestly I wasn't in the mood to talk when I heard the phone ringing, but 5 minutes into the phone call I realized it was just what I needed.. Sometimes you need a friend that is just going to talk about random stuff and not have to have the traditional, what is new, why are you sick, what is going on talk... 2 hours later he and I had talked about everything under the sun it was totally awesome, and I felt so much better!

Today, I was super nauseous all day YUCK! Even after taking Phenergan, and eating jello I couldn't shake it.. The kids put up Christmas lights outside the house, they look fabulous, and I fixed a nice dinner since The Cpl, was returning to base tonight for 2 weeks.. Still nauseous, I returned to my private living room, bundled up on the couch and watched TV. Did anyone catch the Britney Spears for the Record show? I actually feel really bad for her, it was pretty depressing to hear about her life from her perspective!

I think I have rambled on long enough.... Good night for now....

Baby Bean update

Precious baby bean who now has been named, but we'll call her baby bean for now, is still in her mommys tummy!! She is now 25 weeks and 3 days as of this post!! Thank you so much for your prayers, and please continue to pray for her!!

Serious Prayers Needed

Last night when I got to work I saw the name of one of my couples that I work with through the RTS program, I was with them through their loss of their precious baby boy April 07, and we have remained in close contact.

She is 24 1/7 weeks pregnant with a baby girl now, and her water broke yesterday. She is in our hospital and we are doing all we can to help her. We watched the baby on ultrasound last night and it was a moment that stirred all of our hearts to watch this little girl moving and swallowing fluid it was such a relief and yet very scary.

She is now 24 2/7 today, please pray to keep this little "baby bean" inside of her mommy and healthy for as long as she can stay inside.

I want so badly for this pregnancy to last for this couple, they are one of the most amazing loving spiritual couples I have ever met, I just adore them and more then anything they want to parent a baby that lives here on earth with them.

(Due to HIPAA I can't not release names of the patient, however baby bean is not the name of the little girl, but just her nick name)

Dating Scene!

(this picture is just for humor)

And so the dating begins again.......

I had lunch with a guy hmmmmm I need a good Pseudonym for him, ah ha I got it, Christian Chris, ok so we met at Pita Jungle on Wed. we had a great lunch and sat there and talked for a very long time... He really reminded me of a guy from junior high that I used to date lol, We'll see if there is a date number 2 or not... He has a daughter that he has Mon-Fri so between his parenting and my schedule we'll see if it's in the cards...

Today I met Jason (no pseudonym yet) in north Scottsdale for some Thai food...... I don't think there will be a 2nd date, he was odd, and had yellow teeth, I know I'm mean, but I just didn't feel anything... Oh, and a word to the wise, if you don't have a gallbladder then DON'T eat Thai food :)

I had a great week off, Kris and I went out to Olive Garden and there new Chicken & Gnocchi soup is delicious! I did some shopping, and hung around the house with everyone home.. Bethany cooked every night she was off, she is quite the chef!

Last night we spent several hours in the ER with Danielle, her headache was the worst it's been ever an it was accompanied by throwing up, anyone in the medical field will think ICP, so I was a titch worried, but several meds and IV's later she was discharged home with more prescriptions. I have emailed Barrows and a few other places looking for help for her, her quality of life is crummy and she needs answers, so please keep her in your prayers!

PS I HAD to change my background, I hated the other Thanksgiving one!

Thank you~

Happy 8th Birthday Collin Diegle!!

See what happens when I am home confined to my bed and the couch? I blog lol...

The entire point of this blog was to tell my fun dating stories.. Well sheesh I haven't spoken about dating in a while now.. I have been so busy with Zacks home coming, and then been sick, that I haven't really given the dating thing much thought..

I haven't had any dates since Grill Will and I parted ways.... There are a few prospects out there, so we'll see... Being sick hasn't helped any because I haven't been motivated to chat with any of them... But you know what is sorta funny, Grill Will turned his "hooter" type bar into a gay bar instead..... This is one of those Arsenio Hall moments, things that make you go Hmmmmmmmmm......

On to being sick... I am so over being sick, I have no voice still, and a bad cough, headache, fever and a runny nose, I am thinking about going to a homeopathic Dr. any thoughts or suggestions? On Tuesday, the Nuero Diagnostic place confirmed what I knew all along, that I have carpal tunnel in both wrists, which I knew already.... So now I am waiting for the verdict as far as what I do from here. I tried to explain to the VERY rude Dr. at the imaging place that I need my hands for my job, and the importance of having full function in both hands, he brushed me off and said "yeah yeah I know" RUDE very RUDE, luckily for him I was deathly ill so I just sat there, had he had the real Brittney in his presence I would have spoken my mind and walked right out! PS, no that is not me in the picture, it just describes how I feel lol....

I have one of the best friends in the world, for numerous reasons... Do you see this picture of soup to the left? My best friend Kris D. made me that soup, and she dropped it off at my moms house, because I was going to spend some time there last night. This is the best soup I have ever had, I LOVE her chicken soup. I love that she manged to whip me up a batch of her home made chicken soup between sleeping, her kids, her husband, her bum shoulder and getting herself ready for work! She is an amazing woman, and I hope if I ever get married and have babies, that I am a super mom like her, and able to balance everything! Thanks Kris, I'm enjoying some soup right now as I lay on the couch wrapped up in the blanket you made me :) Your friendship is constant, steady, loyal and devoted, your the type of friend that will stand by you through life. If you need to call someone to pick you up in the middle of a snowy night because your car broke down, You would be there in a flash, hot cocoa in gloved hand. I am so blessed by you.... Thank you!

These are cupcakes that my sister, MINDY had made for her sisters for Halloween. They came in an adorable box, and they were so yummy... She also came over and brought us our house warming present, it was this huge beautiful bright colored platter, and adorable little bowls to match.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Jeremiah 1:5

You may have noticed a new button on my blog for awhile now, I know I have showed McKmamas blog around the nurses station a time or two. I would like you to please take the time to visit her blog and read about her McKMiracle...

Her baby Stellan was born at an interesting time in my life as a labor and delivery nurse. I will share a brief glimpse at her story:


"MckMuffin is our sweet newborn son S! In the womb, he was diagnosed with heart failure: premature atrial contractions at 20 weeks; supraventricular tachycardia, hydrops, and intermittent advanced secondary heart block at 23 weeks; and enlargement of the heart at 32 weeks. When the doctors told us at 24 weeks that our very ill baby would surely die, we chose to give our son completely to God, for He alone knows best. We have not stopped praising our Lord since then, for MckMuffin was healed and was born a well and whole full-term baby!! "

The faith that this family has exerted is amazing, please look around her blog, see the pictures of Stellans name all over the world, the people who know this baby only through a blog, who were praying for his life, the people who were trusting in the Lord. McKMamas blog is real, she takes us through her hospital stays, and NICU visits, BPP's, NST's etc.

Here is one more excerpt from her blog:

"Exactly 13 weeks after being told by the doctors that our gravely ill unborn baby would surely die...

...our MckMiracle entered this world, completely healed!!!"

Here is her link, enjoy her blog:




http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Another blog I found through McKMamas blog was: Bring the Rain

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/


I can't tell you how many times I have read her blog and shed tears... I have attached a you tube video of a song her husband wrote. They were told their sweet baby girl would die as well, and they also chose to continue with the pregnancy... Yes, their sweet Audrey only lived a short time, however they left that decision to the Lord, and not to the Doctors to decide....


Please scroll down and stop my current music player before you play this video, so you can listen to the music...

I Will Carry You
There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this?

People say that I am brave but I'm not
Truth is I'm barely hanging on
But there's a greater story
Written long before me
Because He loves you like this

So I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the One Who's chosen me
To carry you

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to His voice
And He says...

I've shown her photographs of time beginning
Walked her through the parted seas
Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes
Who could love her like this?

I will carry you

Lots of little updates need to be posted...

Laryngitis, I have it AGAIN this is the 4th time this year, I get it every time I catch a cold... Anyone have any thoughts on that or heard of a friend of a friend who's had the same problem? Because my Doc doesn't seem to know why or care, and I am a talker so I need my voice to do my job...

Saturday Nov. 1st was Zacks homecoming party, it was a great time.. The day was a titch hairy, Bethany had to be picked up from work because she was violently throwing up, so she was put to bed at 7 with phenergan. Danielle has been battling a headache in the base of her skull for 7 days, and that day was no exception, so the night before she was put to bed with percocets! My parents had to come over and help me. Thank God for my parents and for my sister Mindy for coming over and getting it all together, because there was only so much I can do. Kris D. and Chad came over early as well, I just needed my BFF there to make me feel better as the world was crashing down around me, I made her yell PINK PINK PINK to me, and believe it or not it helped. Pink is a key word to relax, your getting uptight lol atleast its a keyword for Kris and I. She brought over delicious food it was soooo yummy, that made me feel better too.

Here are some party pics:

Back to work

Tonight I go back to work, I am happy to go back and be a part of a families blessed miracle!!

What I am not happy about is the fact that I requested this Saturday off, and it was not granted however other people who didn't request it off, got it off... I have season tickets to the ASU football games, and this year I have already missed 2 games because of my work schedule, I don't think I am asking much to have one night off.... They haven't played at home in 4 weeks, this weekend makes 5 weeks since we have seen our team play at home... No, I'm not bitter...

They aren't even playing good, ahem! I should say, Carpenter is not playing good and he is bringing down the team, however I am still a fan and still bent out of shape that I will not be there!

Great time off

I have been off of work since last Wed. it has been WoNdErFuL!! On Thursday I went to work for 6 hours to "special" a friend of mines daughter, it was a great experience and Destinee delivered in 3 short hours, she was amazing, and her mom (Venus) and Andrea (Michaels mom) were such a big help.

Friday I got to baby sit Joaquin aka Jac Jac, 12 weeks old, what an amazing age, The Cpl and I babysat him from 1p-10p, we had so much fun, we played with him, and fed him and snuggled with him for 9 hours it was a little piece of heaven.

Saturday was a girls day and we had a Move and Booze day, we went and saw Sex Drive, which was completely hilarious, and I am sure the little bit of vodka and lemonade helped ;) That movie is absolutely quotable, and a must see.. They have killer lines like "the one wearing a belt for a mini skirt" Ok, guess you had to be there. Then we went to Kris's house and played Wii and ate dinner and polished off a bottle of wine.

Sunday I woke up and made waffles with blueberry topping, bacon, eggs and hash browns for everyone, what a wonderful breakfast it was!! YaY!! For breakfast it is my favorite meal... Then we lounged all day, I read, and napped and watched some football... We carved pumpkins later that night, Jami came over and brought some cider, and we listened to halloween music on the tv, it was a really good time!

Monday the girls and I met for tea, and a tea house, it was a fun time.

Today so far has been the best day yet from my time off... It started with me waking up feeling good (will discuss in another paragraph) I took the dog to get her nails done and her face cleaned up a bit, and wouldn't you know she by far is the cutest dog I have ever seen?? I just love her so much, and then I met the cleaning lady at the condo, let her in to get to work and started on my shopping venture. My plan is to have the entire house finished before we host the welcome home party for The Cpl. I bought a desk for the office, and everything that we needed for the office, I straightened up the guest room, moved around furniture, put bedding on etc. I bought a coffee table and end table for me "living quarters" The Cpl helped me put things up that needed to be hung. I then went to the condo around 730 and inspected the house cleaning, it looked immaculate, if your in need of house cleaners, just ask me for the info, I was blown away by the sight of the house. I then came home we ate dinner all of us home together, and then I finished my book "Change of Heart" by Jodi Piccoult.

One last side note, so I have been ill for quite some time now, I have been to the doctor, and we have run a zillion tests, well I got the news on Friday that I have Mono AGAIN!!! However it explains so much, my sleeping for almost 3 days straight, the swollen lymph nodes later in the day, the headaches, etc etc etc I could go on and on, I can't believe I didn't suspect it sooner, since this is my 2nd round with it... The good news is, my doc said I am fine to work as long as, I am getting plenty of rest, no kissing patients (LOL), no sharing drinks, food etc. and no contact sports, or accidental mishaps of patients legs spearing me in the abdomen.. ha ha ha... Hooray for a diagnosis finally!!!