This week - welcome an old friend, Jessie to the "mic"... Jessie has been through a whole heck of alot... and im so proud of her for having the courage to share her pregnancy story with you... as I remember hearing all about it with lil Ben. Such a strong mama for going at it again... and such a pretty little girl her strength has brought her this time around :)
Tonight I decided to continue to claim and accept a part of what makes me who I am - a survivor of preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. I decided to do a walk to support awareness and raise money towards finding a cure and/or preventing the condition. Although I can say that in the past I have blamed myself in some sort of odd way for being a victim to this disorder or feeling inadequately made by my creator, I now know that it was never my fault and that God made me perfectly and that why this has happened to me now twice in my life is all but a bigger plan that I will someday know more about when I am laid at rest. What I know beyond all else is that my life has been incredibly blessed with two beautiful children and that my heart is at its happiest with the love I have for them. This walk I am doing, I feel, will sort of be a part of a healing process for me as well. I have sort of felt compelled to do this as well since the birth of my new two-week old daughter knowing that someday she will possibly face this condition as well as it can be hereditary. Last year I turned down doing this walk as it was too hard for me I feel emotionally to face up to the facts of what happened with the birth of my son and the emotional turbulence and shock of knowing my condition so I feel like I have made strides to do the walk this year and hope that I will continue on my journey of closure or peace.
For those of you who have never heard of preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome (I never did either until it happened to me) is that Preeclampsia is a disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and the postpartum period and affects both the mother and the unborn baby. Affecting at least 5-8% of all pregnancies, it is a rapidly progressive condition characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine. Swelling, sudden weight gain, headaches and changes in vision are important symptoms; however, some women with rapidly advancing disease report few symptoms.


Typically, preeclampsia occurs after 20 weeks gestation (in the late 2nd or 3rd trimesters or middle to late pregnancy), though it can occur earlier. Proper prenatal care is essential to diagnose and manage preeclampsia. Preeclampsia, Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) and toxemia are closely related conditions. HELLP Syndrome and eclampsia are other manifestations of the same syndrome. It is important to note that research shows that more women die from preeclampsia than eclampsia and one is not necessarily more serious than the other.


Globally, preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death. By conservative estimates, these disorders are responsible for 76,000 maternal and 500,000 infant deaths each year.


I developed pre-e and HELLP with my son suddenly in 2008 at 35 weeks into my pregnancy. I had a rare case of pre-e with non-typical signs of the disorder. I became very sick after my delivery as my liver was affected. I had to be on magnesium sulfate for a few days after giving birth to prevent me from having seizures. My son did well with only needing some breathing help the first day and a half. He is a normal, beautiful, average young 21 month old currently and is such a joy to raise.


I developed pre-e and HELLP with my daughter recently the last week of February, again in my 35th week of pregnancy. Thanfully, doctors caught it in its early stages and I was able to deliver (as delivery of the baby is the only cure for the condition) a beautiful, glowing baby girl who did fantastic after delivery not even needing breathing help. I was able to avoid being on drugs after delivery and had a much shorter stay in the hospital than my first birthing experience. My daughter is doing wonderful at home and is just a doll - can't wait to see what sugar and spice she brings to us!
I am touched that Amber donated to my cause and has me as her blogger guest this Sunday. She is an amazing woman with a big heart for people. If you would like to donate to my walk on May 8th around Lake Phalen in St. Paul, Minnesota, please visit the following website: http://www.promisewalk.org/pfpw/participantpage.asp?fundid=68&uid=188&fkroledescid=5&nnaffundid=12
Thank you for your encouragement. :)
Me again guys! If you have a few bucks to spare PLEASE donate to Jessie's walk :) Her goal is $100 and she is only $65 away! YAYYY Jessie! If you want to donate less than $15 just put choose OTHER in the donation box and you can enter in your own dollar amount. Every $1 helps and is much appreciated. And Ill make you a deal... for every $1 you donate to Jessies cause, Ill match it in a gift certificate to RockerByeBaby up to $20 per person... Give Jessie $15... Get a $15 GC for the shop. Cool!? COOL!

Part One:
Dear blog...
i love you... and im so sorry i have been neglecting you... dont take it personally I have just been SOOO busy... and my lovely readers... i appreciate every one of you for sticking around through the chaos... for those of you that didn't hear me ranting on Twitter... the owners of the house we were renting deciding to stop paying their mortgage... and put our rent in their pocket (enter mean name here)... this leaving are very busy family of for in a bad spot... one day, we got a note on our door saying the house was being sold... a week later the house sold to a private investor... and that night, we got a note on the door saying to call... we did... and had to be out in a week if we wanted any compensation for our troubles... so, we dropped everything and packed and moved... ugh... was a horrible week (10 day process i think)... just total chaos...  orders were/are backed up... kids were crabby... mom/dad were crabby... and thankfully nana flew out to save the day... uh... week. Dunno what we would have done without her help... so here we sit now... for our second night totally settled into our new place (that we totally love). Its kinda one of those blessing in disguise kinda situations... way happier here... way more productive... been walking with the boys every day... its just great. So (mean name) house owners... thanks for totally screwing us over so we could get our of your crappy house... Ill post some pictures of the new place later... we have tried really hard to really put this place together :) I like it!

Part Two: GLAMASAURUS!! Geesh, this giveaway has been going on FOREVER now!! Lots of ADV for my lady :) haha Now, LETS PICK A WINNER!!

Random.Org = 21!!
which is... *runs to go peek at post*
WHAT'S UP DUCK! Congrats!! Ill be in touch to get you your prize!!

What's up Duck? said... 21

And finally I already was a fan of glamasaurus on facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/nutamu?ref=nf

This week for Swinger Sunday - meet Alisha from The Rockstar Mom Way. 
When my husband and I found out we were pregnant, the first thing he did was write our new baby a song.  It just seemed right.  Natural.  Now, almost 10 years and 3 more children later, we have 4 distinct baby songs, all of which we never sing. 
When I first heard Mark sing Johnathan “His” song, while still safe in my belly, I imagined us singing it to him everynight.  But we never did. Instead, Mark wrote a lullaby called “Smile for Me”, which we sang both of our boys (they were born 20 months apart) to sleep.  The same went for each and every song Mark wrote our children while in utero.The songs weren’t even recorded.  We talk about recording them all the time, but instead, they sit, unrecorded, just lyrics on whatever was around when Mark became inspired. Johnathan’s song was written on the back of a Blockbuster receipt.   Ryan’s was sent to me in an email.  Aleya’s was on a scrap of notebook paper; my Medical Terminology notes on the back.  Lyrik’s song is still stuck on Mark’s I-Mac. We sing every day. Sometimes that’s all we do. Sing.  And yet, the kids have never heard the songs that their father wrote them before they even entered the world.   We never even thought to sing them.  I think that it was just a given that we give the songs to them for only them to hear.  When the time is right, we’ll give them their songs.  They can then decide what they want to do with them.  But for now, they feel safe. The songs never sung.
Thanks so much for your post! Zaq has recorded a song for Izzaq. Its pretty awesome, and i love listening to it :) We also made a slideshow of photos on DVD and used it as the background music. Makes it even more special. Thanks again for sharing this little story with us! What about you guys? Anything special you have written for your kids? (p.s. - the photo below is nakey butt izzaq with his guitar at about 2 years old... :)

In the past few days on Facebook I have seen the posts of Layla Grace just flying through the streams... If you dont know about Ms. Layla... here is a quick wrap up... but you should most definitely check out her website for the most info...

Layla Grace:



"Layla has a massive cancerous tumor (Stage 4 Neuroblastoma) in her abdomen. It extends from above her left kidney, around her side, over her belly and wraps around her aorta. In addition, the cancer is in her bone marrow.
Our sweet Layla went from normal happy and healthy to lethargic, in pain, and skin and bones in a matter of a week and a half."


Im all about donating any time I can... so I rushed to the site, found that magical paypal button... and sent some money to help. If you can do the same, PLEASE do... even $1 makes a difference. Anything sent goes towards her mountains of medical bills. Now, this is a sad story in itself... but what really got me was a blog her mom wrote... it hit home SO hard... here is a snapshot... click here to read the rest from her website. Oh, and try not to cry...

"Sleep, Valentines Day and Regrets
February16
Towards the end of a pregnancy, a mother will wake up to go to the bathroom every few hours. I think this is the body’s way of preparing you for a newborn and the sleepless nights that come along with it. Layla now spends most of her days sleeping. 30-45 minutes after she wakes up, she is ready to lay down and sleep again. Is this God’s way of preparing me for all the quiet time that is coming soon? The house is quiet. I am able to go through the motions of laundry, dishes, cooking and picking up without interruptions. But I WANT interruptions. I WANT Layla to be under my feet asking for cookies. I WANT to hear her playing with her toys. I WANT to take 45 minutes to unload the dishwasher because she keeps trying to help. For every time I uttered the words “I just can’t get anything done with these kids under my feet all day” I am eternally regretful. The days that I looked forward to naptime so I could get a grocery list made, or finally fold all the piles of laundry…I regret those days too. If I could do it all again, I’d enjoy EVERY SINGLE WAKING MOMENT I had with her. I would never wish for her to sit still or take a nap or go to bed early. I would never look forward to the days when she could sit through an entire episode of Dora silently. I would treasure every second with her."

This post really got to me... with all the stress of the store... stress of packing... stress of moving... cooking, cleaning, paying bills, and the million other things that have taken a toll on the last month... zaq and i have been a little on edge. Yes, I count the minutes to nap time when i can get some work done uninterrupted... and bed time comes and its such a relief, an hour to lay with my husband, wind down, and talk about our day... and I can't even tell you how horrible that makes me feel. Of course I love my kids... and of course i would die if anything ever happened to them. And all the "free time", lack of stress & money in the world couldn't be traded for either one of them... but yes, sometimes its a hand full.  And like she said... "I am eternally regretful" for all the days I have wished for a little peace & quiet...