The Preemie Primer- A book Review and GIVE AWAY!!!!

Almost 5 years ago I embarked on the journey of a lifetime. A trip that I didn't plan on and a ride we can't get to stop. While the shove into parenthood was scary enough we added the extra stress of the NICU. Nothing can prepare you for the sights, sounds and terms.

As I was getting overwhelmed with words and diagnosis' I turned to the worst place on EARTH!

GOOGLE

You see, google has the worst of the worst. I needed simple yet understandable terms where I could figure out the worst of the worst but still have hope.

I didn't have that place.

Recently a new book came out called The Preemie Primer and was written by Dr. Jennifer Gunter. She is an OBGYN and a preemie mom. She understands the feelings of being a mom in the scariest place on earth. ( Both professionally and as a mother!)

She starts out the book describing her own story. Her own fear. Facing her own reality. She makes me feel like as a OB she knew all the answers but as a mother felt like the rest of us did. She was full of anxiety and scared.

She address the very basic of prematurity and health. She delivers it in a very plain and yet educational way. It is a VERY easy read. She also gives you facts and numbers. Things I needed to see.

Because the book spans the VAST picture of preemie hood it has some things that didn't apply to me and my situation. But the information was packed in there.

There are so many terms and conditions that are in the world of prematurity that covering every single one would be almost impossible but it seems Dr. Gunter has done an amazing job.

I would like an author somewhere to touch on the emotional impact AFTER the birth for the mother. Dr. Gunter did do that but I think it deserves much more time and a MILLION pages. I think more resources to send the parents in this situation. ( such as A Internet group, list of blogs, parents who are open to being contacted) I know when I was in the middle of the bad stuff it would have been nice to have someone. I met a few through the above mentioned ways but to have someone DIRECT me there would have been amazing.

The most important part that I felt was touched on was the traveling through the health system. There is so many things that could either make or break what you are hoping to get. Financially it is extremely exhausting. Follow the advice given. She does a great job explaining what to ask for.

After living the preemie world for almost 5 years ( 5 years!) I can say that I have passed that toddler hood and survived. If you are just getting started in your journey, PICK up this book. GET a copy. Read it and store the information that you need. You can and will get through the NICU.

SO... to help a lucky NICU mom or an OLD NICU mom get to experience the Preemie Primer we are giving away a COPY!!!!!!

So to win a copy of this book a few things need to be done in order to be entered.

1. You must have a address in the United States. ( if you are in Canada email me)
2. Leave a comment telling us why you would like this book.
3. extra entries: blog about it, link this blog ( worth 3 points.....)
4. Become a follower either on here ( google reader or your own reader) but tell me which one you are doing,
5. Follow us on Facebook
6. Follow @miraclepreemie and @DrJenGunter on twitter and @ me so I know you are here!!!

You have 6 ways to win. A separate comment must be made for each of the things you do in order for it to be counted as a entry.... SO if you do all 6 there should be SIX comments by you!!!!!!!

Entries must be received before thursday at midnight PST. Twitter will be FULL of #nicu posts and links. Link back during that time to see who the winner is.

READY....... GO!

The Darling Daughter

BOWS!! Everywhere!

THANK YOU Chantel at THE DARLING DAUGHTER

Using Random.org the winners of the bows are.......... DRUM ROLL PLEASE !!!

Maloree and Britta ( both have private blogs! Sorry no link!~)

I am LAUGHING on this one. I LOVE random.org. It makes me smile when 2 people who have only ONE girl in a house of boys!

An email will be in your inbox of how to redeem your coupons! Congrats and PLEASE send us pictures of the cute girls in BOWS!

Thanks for Signing up!

Tomorrow SCENTSY!!

A winner for the Vinyl!

The first winner is Christy @aidenscross.

Christy is the mom to a special kiddo and she blogs at Tales of the toot!

Winner #2 is Crystal Darnell

She is the mom to a special needs kiddo who was a 23 weeker.

An email will be in your email box with instructions on how to redeem your prize...

CONGRATS!

Come back tomorrow for a NEW contest and the Winners of The Darling Daughter

A giveaway for the PARTY!!!!!!

As you can see I am participating in the UBP this year. So in honor of that a few of my friends and family have joined in by offering up the services in which they sale and make. Each of them have something amazing that they offer so I thought I would pass them on to the people who read about us!!

SO....

Stephanie and I have been friends forever! She is one of those people who in High school I totally and complete trusted. I loved her more than anything! She was like my family. I sadly lost touch ( and was a total and complete DORK) for many years and since the amazing Internet we have become in touch and our friendship rekindled ( is that the "right" word.)

Anyway, she is a momtrepenuer and she owns a Vinyl company. She is the best. I love all her stuff and she has been kind enough to offer 2 gift certificates for $15.00 to a reader/commenter!

* Rules to WIN!!

1- Go visit Stephanie at Thoughts on the wall and browse her stuff! See what you like, leave a comment with your favorite thing or your "choice" if you were to win.

2- Follow us on our blog. Use google reader OR a RSS of your choice!

3- Follow us on Twitter- @miraclepreemie ( don't forget to tweet the giveaway!)

For an extra entry BLOG and link back and find us on Facebook at Because Miracles Happen~

So that would be a total of 5 entries per person. Leave a seperate comment for EACH thing you do ( So you will have 5 comments total if you enter ALL of the above)

The contest is open till Monday. Winner will be announced on Tuesday. A comment number will be generator from Random.org!

GOOD LUCK!

And a giveaway

We are going to have a giveaway that will be up tomorrow night and go for a few days to get all your entries in.... Stay tuned.......

We LOVE mail!

Remember the post announcing we won a Barney video? Well, UPS came by while Ty was at school ( He was almost home.) So I left it on the front porch and thought I would take pictures of it instead. So To The Max, this fun stuff is for you!

Ty was getting off the bus. We had to check the regular mail first.

He finally realized that HE had mail on the steps and was looking around.

If this picture had sound!

Seriously he as so excited. I loved it. Especially since I KNEW what was inside.

Every day after school we sit on the bottom steps and go through his backpack. He STILL made us but he wouldn't let go of the package.

See... not letting it go!

As soon as we were done looking at his school stuff he signed dad and took off. Honestly, he signs dad.... Frequently.

So we took off and went downstairs to dads "office" and we opened the package.

( The video is so that we can have sound. His sounds are HILARIOUS!)

So if you don't want to see Ty for 2 whole minutes don't push play. It does show how we communicate most of the time. He does a pretty good job. We love him to bits!!

( Oh and it was taken on my little camera/video so any time I zoomed the sound goes out. Hooray for not pulling out our nice video camera. Maybe I SHOULD look for it)

And for those not fluent on Tyler language.. The hitting of his head is his way of saying "Dad" and the pulling is his way of saying he wanted it off or PULLED open. He is saying wow a few times and ohhhh... And he was showing Barney his movie too!

TY WON!

I recently entered a contest for a BARNEY DVD. Only because Ty's best friend is Purple and Barney and it is one that WE DO NOT HAVE!!

Well we got an email yesterday with a shouting HOORAY! Ty and I won. Sprouts is giving us a copy of the movie lend a helping hand with Barney, Bob the Builder and Fifi and ROARY! I am sure Kipper will be thrown in there to!

Thanks to LOVE THAT MAX and them hosting such a fun contest!! And a Special shout out to MAX who LOVES purple to!

We will let you know how the movie is and how much we love it all ready.

Thanks again Ellen. LOVE IT!

Sock Puppets

I found this set of sock puppets while I was out and about last week. I had HIGH hopes that Tyler was going to be interested or that he would be entertained a little.

We got out all the goods and got all the stuff ready. The stuff for the face and body was all stickers so there was no real work involved but putting the face where it should go according to the monster maker

The pile of goods were in a nice little pile, and we were doing really well. Barney even had his choice.

Barney even got an extra nose and a few other stickers in other places, but he wore the sock like a champ.

The Blue one is T's, he was teaching him how to play the piano and he even went to show his dad downstairs.

And just like that... the moment was over. Ty took the package and threw it EVERYWHERE. All OVER. He was all smiles.

The final result. Fun. He wears them. And they turned our pretty darn cute.

Maybe we should give away this lovely thing kit. What do you think moms out there? Is this an activity you would be interested in winning?

And the WINNER IS!!!!

By random ( I SWEAR) drawing the winners are........( drum roll please........)

1. My gorgeous friend with a CUTE little baby Ashley. She is the winner of the ten dollars towards merchandise at Kidcessories.

2. Megan at Ponds pad! She is the winner of the ten dollars towards any Mary kay items at Crystals.

3. Chesney is the winner of the ten dollar gift card to walmart.

Thank you again for all that entered. I had a blast doing the giveaway. So much so that I JUST might have to do it again.

Now for the questions.

What is the most rewarding thing about being a mom? There are so many things to chose from. I think the most rewarding is when you see something click. Something that you have been working on and the light kinda goes on and you see that they get it. I can't wait to have YEARS of him "getting" it.

What is your favorite activity to do with Ty? I love swimming with him. LOVE it. We don't do it enough lately but I love being at the pool and watching him just enjoy the water. The other top favorite is napping with him. Hearing him breathe and watching how sweet and innocent he is has got to be the greatest thing ever.

What is your favorite thing to do on your alone time? Sleep!! I love sleep. I am NOT a morning person at all. AND I love going out with Dallas. But overall I love sleeping.

What is it, that you really crave to do? Besides mother and wife hood, what would Nancy really really like to do with her time ? I want to help others especially using what I learned in school and be able to help others. Plus have lots of money so that I can financially help all those who need it.

What is the scariest part about being a mom? Failing. Not doing it right or missing something that I should have caught.

What is something Ty did today (as in the day that you read this) that made you laugh or smile?
Ty does something everyday but the best today was what I just walked in on in his room. Dallas was rocking him and just enjoying his sweetness. That made me smile.... and then cry. They are both so sweet.

Where were you born? Logan Utah

What is your favorite thing to eat? Shrimp scampi

What is your most embarrassing moment ever!?! I have lots. I am kinda a accident prone person. One day in college I fell down the hill at UVSC, I didn't take the tags off my clothes and my pants size sticker was on all day. No one said anything. I have many bodily function ones. I have fallen down TONS of times. Sorry I can't name just one.

Do you sing in the shower? Just when a 2 year old is in their there.

What is your biggest pet peeve? people who don't use their signal lights. How hard is it?

Have you ever been ice skating? Yes at Mrs. Jeff's pond in Castle Dale. Were you good at it? um no I don't recall I was ever that good at it.

What is your greatest childhood memory? My daddy daughter dinner date in Merry miss.

What is your favorite flower? I love roses and I love lily's

What is your favorite kind of chocolate?any. It really doesn't matter.

Do you even like chocolate? Um ask Dallas.

How did Dallas propose to you? I kinda proposed to him. But he came to Logan. We got Take out from my favorite restaurant and I was crying and it was a very emotional day and He said he left some stuff in his trunk and he had roses and my ring. I loved it.

Do you have a secret crush on any celebrity? Um Dylan. Who doesn't

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be? anywhere with Dallas and Tyler. I kind like living with them.

What's the first thing you notice in the opposite sex? I have no idea. I LOVE looking at Dallas and everything about him.

What first attracted you to Dallas? That he came to Logan. That was always a big test to me. He came and he did not care what we did. He just liked to be with me.

What is your favorite song of all time? I have no clue. I like a lot of songs. They change through whatever phase I am going through .

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go (besides to visit me!! ;) Hawaii. I really want to go there.

Name one regret you have? No regrets really...

On the topic of abortion, how do you feel about cookies? Love them especially the ones made of applesauce and chocolate chip.. YUMMY!!

How about this - Book or movie? Probably a book but a good movie is hard to resist.

Which one of Ty's milestones made you the happiest? (first sign, first steps, etc) Probably his first step. It seems like it took forever and I thought he would crawl forever. He would be the first first grader to be crawling.

How do you handle watching Ty having to go through so much? Sometimes there is no other choice. When you weight the pros and cons you have to do what you have to do. I avoid it if possible but in the end a lot of crying, praying and just dealing.

What would Dallas thing is his FAVORITE thing about you? He says my boobs!! And it can't be being a mom or his wife because those are a given. But what did he absolutely love about you when you guys met? I had a rocking personality and was a "fun girl"

What are five things you would like to do before you die? Go to Hawaii, go to Europe, make a lot of money, have a happy and long life, Enjoy our kid(s) if it ever gets to #2!

I think I have answered them all. I have to remind myself not to ask Dallas cause his answers are not NICE!!

Thanks again for playing.

Special exposure /Wordless Wed.

I feel like the luckiest mom in the entire world. Dallas took this picture the other day. There are so many days,nights,hours,minutes and 3 years that I feel so lucky to be his mommy!

Happy WW and Special exposure!

Also, keep scrolling down to the previous post and enter to win my bloggy giveaway and leave a comment and I will be answering the questions when I announce the give away!!