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MBhearts
Member Since: 11/10/2006 2:56:54 PMLast Seen: 9/9/2008 12:25:43 PM
About Me
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My Friends MBhearts has 20 friends. View all of MBhearts's friends. |
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Posted 6/20/2008 11:26:50 PM
Can ANYONE tell me what happened to Lotus??
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Posted 6/20/2008 11:09:11 PM
As most of you know (if you don't know, read my blog on Leo) we have had a foster son in our care since he came home from the NICU last July. Our little Leo will be 1 tomorrow, we are having a huge party for him (I'm not spoiling him, I SWEAR!). Parental rights were terminated recently, and he is free for adoption, and we are adopting him, so I have a new son! He did have relatives in CO who were also trying to adopt him, so it was pretty tense for a few months as we weren't sure we were going to able to keep him, but the permanency committee met last month and decided that Leo is better off with us, THANK GOD!Leo is a "daddy's boy", man oh man does he love Bill! Having never had kids Bill doesn't even know what hit him, he got broadsided by this little baby and fell so head-over-heels that it's really funny to watch him. He dances around the house holding Leo and singing, "you're my baby, my sweet sweet baby!" Leo is very sweet, happy and content. He's VERY smart, he learns something new every day. He's half Hispanic, and has a bit of a Latin temper, but it's short lived. He has 5 biological siblings that he has finally been given consent for contact, all of whom were adopted by their foster parents. They are coming tomorrow for his party, we're so excited about it! Once we have adopted Leo, I will be able to give you his background as to why he came into care in teh first place, and I will be able to post pictures. Should only be a couple more months, if we can just get through the red tape! On a final note,I'll be 42 in 12 days, UGH! Jeez, am I too old to be doing this baby thing again???
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Posted 6/18/2008 9:51:42 AM
Hey all my NB friends, sorry I've been away for so long, I really have no excuse. Anyway, I'm going to try and catch everyone up on what's been going on in my life, starting with the most recent crisis...My 17 year old daughter Mallory (who'll be 18 in August) just graduated from Boise High and is going to the University of San Francisco this fall. She called me from work last Wednesday and asked me to pick her up, her stomach was upset and she wasn't feeling well. I brought her home and put her to bed, but the next morning she was feeling worse, body aches, fever, etc. We thought she had the flu, bought her some OTC flu meds and put her back to bed, she slept most of the day. On Friday morning she was worse, so I took her to the doctor. She had a fever, sore throat, her joints ached, and she had a weird rash starting on her arms, knees and ankles. She tested positive for strep throat at the doctors, he told me the other symptoms were probably an allergic reaction to the flu medication, gave us a prescription for an antibiotic and sent us home. I put Mallory to bed, went to the store and filled her prescription and came home. I looked in on her, she was quiet, the shades were drawn and the light out, I figured she was sleeping so I left her alone. When I hadn't heard a peep from her after a couple of hours, I went in to check on her. This time I turned the light on. She was lying on top of her bed, her face white (not pale, but a blue-white) with red and green blotches, her face and hands so swollen she was barely recognizable. I shook her and said her name, she opened her eyes briefly, said she couldn't breathe and that her chest hurt. I somehow got her to the ER and because she couldn't breathe and had chest pains, they took her back to a room immediately. I think God was with us that day. The ER doc on call took one look at her, and immediately recognized her symptoms. He had only treated one other patient like her in the 15 years he'd been practicing, but for some reason Mallory's symptoms triggered his memory and he began immediate treatment for Toxic Shock Syndrome. Mallory literally had no time to wait for test results to confirm this diagnosis. Her white blood cell count was dangerously high, her red blood cells were beginning to burst, tests showed that her blood was beginning to clot (risking heart attack and stroke), her immune system had turned on her and her organs were beginning to shut down. Her blood pressure was almost non-existent. I don't know how many hours we spent in the ER until they got her stable enough to move to the Critical Care Unit, but during the move she began to crash again. They worked on her for 14 hours or so trying to stabilize her and keep her alive, giving her nearly toxic doses of blood pressure medication to bring her blood pressure up, massive amounts of fluids and IV antibiotics (the only way to treat TSS, I've learned), and packing her in ice when her fever reached 104 and meds wouldn't bring it down. TSS is very rare today, which is how she got misdiagnosed in the first place. The strep virus that causes strep throat is the same bacteria that causes TSS. What happened to Mallory was she caught a bad strain of the strep virus and somehow the infection got into her blood stream and she became septic. Once you have sepsis, you literally only have hours. The blood stream carries the infection to every part of your body. The ER doc told us we only barely got to the hospital in time, if we'd waited any longer she wouldn't have made it. Mallory spent 3 days in CCU. The doctors told me that she was very lucky, her organs sustained no permanent damage and she would make a full recovery. Once she was stabilized she began to recover quickly, and on Monday was able to move from CCU to a regular room. Yesterday afternoon she was released and we brought her home, we are so grateful that we still have our Mallory. Because this has happened to her, she is now highly prone for it to happen again if she gets another case of strep throat, so we are having her tonsils removed as soon as she is well enough. She is weak and tired, but doing well. We monitor her blood pressure several times a day, check for a fever or any other signs of a relapse, but so far so good. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support during this crisis, it is truly a miracle that Mallory came through this unscathed. Keep watch for another post regarding our foster care/adoption situation!
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Posted 7/29/2007 2:01:31 PM
1. Born and Raised : Born in Florida, raised in Idaho2. Planned Baby : I don't think so 3. Birth Date : July 3, 1966 4. Siblings : 2 half sisters and 2 half brothers 5. Youger or Older : Oldest 6. Hair Color : Blondish (but my natural color is grey, lol) 7. Hair Length : mid shoulderblades 8. Eye Color : brown 9. Shoe Size : 7 1/2 but I wear an 8 because I like my shoes to be roomy and comfortable 10. Mood : Dunno, what time is it? 11. Smell : Fresh baking bread, yummy! 12. Lefty/Righty : Lefty LOVE LIFE 1. Do you remember your first real relationship? Yes 2. Do you believe in love? Of course 3. Why did your last relationship fail? I'm not sure, there just wasn't any love there, good friends, but that's just not enough I think 4. Shortest Relationship : Do one night stands count? 5. Have you ever been hearbroken? hasn't everyone? 6. Have you ever fallen for a friend? I can't remember 7. Have you ever told them? see #6 8. Are you afraid of commitment? Nope 9. You ever had a secret admirer? I don't know 10. Do you believe in love at first sight? I don't know, that's a tough one, it's never happened to me 11. Ever been in love? I'm in love now! THIS OR THAT 1. Love or money : I have both, I'm pretty lucky 2. Hard Liquor or Beer : Tequila baby! 3. One-Night Stand or Relationships : Relationship, definitely, though one night stands do have their place! 4. Television or Internet : Internet, I hate tv 5. Pepsi or Coke : Diet Pepsi 6. Wild Night Out or Romantic Night In : I have to choose? 7. Colored or Black and White Pictures : I like both 8. Phone or In Person :In person 9. AIM or Myspace : Myspace HAVE YOU EVER... skinny dipping:Yes I've did stuff that was illegal:Yes I've been on a house boat: Nope I've been streaking: Yes I've ran away: Nope I've finished an entire jawbreaker. Can't remember caught my parents doing it: If I did it was so traumatic that I'm blocking it, lol sneaked out: from a basement window, and that's hard to do! bungee jumping.: nope ARE YOU? 1. Are you missing someone right now? Yes, till he gets home from work 2. Are you German, Italian, Russian, Irish, Norwegian or Spanish? I have some Indian blood, but that's all I know 3. Are your parents still married? Nope OTHER SHIT 1. Best friend : My sister 2. What do you do when your together? : Talk, go shopping, have lunch, hang out, whatever 3. Have the same interests? No, but that's ok 4. Do you have low self-esteem? Yes, and years of therapy don't seem to help much 5. Do you get depressed easily? Yes, but I have bipolar disorder 6. Do you live life to the fullest? I try 7. Are you comfortable with the way you look? No, not really, see #4 8. How do you dress? Pretty casual, but I love to get dressed up and go out once in a while 9. Are you scared of growing old and alone? Yes, my husband is a lot older than me, so I know I will be without him when I am old 10. What do you wanna be when you grow up? I'm still trying to decide 11. Do you prefer indoors? It's over a hundred degrees outside, so I'd have to say indoors 12. Current song your listening to : Meat Loaf, of course! Anyways ...anyone who wants to answer these on their page is supposed to title their post "The History Of _______ (your name here). Try it. It's not like you have anything better to do.
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Posted 7/27/2007 11:54:51 AM
I got married 3 1/2 years ago to Bill, a wonderful man, and a great stepfather to my three kids, Justin who is 20, Mallory will be 17 on August 1st, and Lulu is 10. Bill is my dream guy, and I am fanatically in love with him. He is 54, and I just turned 41. Sadly, I can't have any more children, which breaks my heart, I would love to have had a baby with Bill. My son now lives in Spokane (he is going to Gonzaga and doing really well), this is the first summer he hasn't come home from college and while I am very proud of him, I am also very sad. I'm getting "empty nest syndrome". Bill and I talked about adoption, and even looked at adopting from different countries, but the rules are so stringent, and the cost is prohibitive (about $40,000). Finally it hit me, why not try foster care? So we put in an application, took the 27 hours of parenting classes (which drove Bill crazy, he called the classes "the restatement of the obvious"). Two weeks after we finished our classes and got our license, we got our first call, a newborn who was in NICU, he was premature. His name is Leo, and he weighed 5 lbs at birth. He was born June 21st, and I got to see him for the first time on the 25th, he was so tiny, on a respirator, and as cute as could be, with tons of black hair. I visited him twice a day, learned how to feed him and care for him, and finally was able to bring him home on the 10th. I was scared to death, I hadn't cared for a baby in ten years, and all the rules have changed (for instance, you now put babies on their backs to sleep, not on their tummies!) Plus having been a preemie, there was special care involved. Since he had had so much trauma associated with his mouth (the respirator and a feeding tube), he had feeding problems and I had to teach him how to feed from a bottle, but he has caught on quick!A NICU nurse comes to my house once a week to check on Leo, weigh and measure him, and give me advice. At his last checkup with the nurse he weighed 7 lbs 8 oz, he gained a pound in one week! He is thriving, and doing well! Leo is the best baby, he never cries except when he gets hungry. He sleeps about 5 hours a night now, which is great for me! I must admit, I was a bit surprised that I didn't fall in love with him immediately like I did with my own babies, I had assumed that the minute I brought him home I would be madly in love with him. I talked to my therapist about it, and she explained to me that when a woman gives birth, massive amounts of oxytocin are released, and that stimulates the maternal love that a mother feels for her baby. I didn't give birth to Leo, so I didn't experience that. It was a bit strange at first having Leo in my care, he is adorable and very sweet, and I liked him a lot and enjoy caring for him, but I didn't fall in love with him immediately. But now that he has been with us for a little over two weeks, I am starting to have feelings for him, and I really like him. I am sure love will come with time. Bill is a little reserved, he has kept his distance a bit with Leo, I think he fears becoming attached in the event we aren't able to keep him. However, he is starting to come around, he has held him a few times, talks to him and he has named him "Leo the Lion". I am sure he will come around in time. Because of strict confidentiality laws I can't give you any background on Leo or the reason he has come into care. However, I think it is ok for me to say that it is likely Leo will be available for adoption in the future, and it is something we are considering. It is really just a waiting game, we will just have to see how everything plays out. In the meantime, I am enjoying having a baby in my home again, it's great fun, and I don't even mind those 2am feedings, in fact I think we are bonding at those feedings, just Leo and I alone in the world in the middle of the night.
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Posted 5/23/2007 5:41:38 PM
Hello everyone, sorry it has taken me so long to sit down and write a little bit about what's going on in my life. First of all, I finished my final exam and got an A in my Social Problems class, whew!Now for the big news...Bill and I have decided to become foster parents for babies! I have been longing for a baby for some time now, but alas, I cannot have any more children. Bill and I looked into adoption, but the process is complicated and expensive. Finally it hit me, why not try foster parenting? Our caseworker said that fostering often leads to adoption, so we have that option open to us. So, we have been taking parenting classes (27 hours worth are required!) and we have our first in-home interview on the 31st, I am so nervous! I am sure we will pass, they are desperate for foster parents, but it's still nerve-wracking being under a microscope! Anyway, we are excited about this, and looking forward to getting our first baby to care for. Will keep you posted with blogs and pictures as we progress through the program!
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Posted 5/6/2007 6:47:11 PM
Hello, and hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! My mother, msreveva, has asked me to let everyone know that her computer is down, but she hopes to have it up and running soon. Otherwise, all is well with her. I will keep you posted. I've much news to tell regarding my own life, but it will have to wait until after my final exam in my Social Problems class tomorrow night. Stay tuned!
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Posted 4/5/2007 9:08:29 AM
Bill and I took Lulu and Mallory to San Francisco for spring break, and we had a wonderful time. Our main reason for the trip was so that Mallory could look at a couple of colleges there, USF and St. Mary's. She REALLY liked USF, and is going to apply there, though it has gotten really competitive, they received over 8,000 applications for next year and will only accept about 1,700. She takes the ACT test next weekend, she needs to do really well. San Francisco was a gorgeous town, though very hilly, we went down Lombard Street, the curviest street in the world, and man is it ever! We took a cruise boat tour of the bay, saw the Golden Gate Bridge from underneath (it's a modern wonder) and saw Alcatraz. We went across both the Golden Gate and the Bay bridge. We went to China Town, which is adorable and quaint, and Lulu got a little silk china dress (I'll be sure and get a picture of her in it) and I bought a silk Chinese blouse in pink. It's beautiful, but a pain to put on because it has a million of those little frog clasps up the front, takes 30 minutes to get them all done up! We met up with a friend of Bill's from his law school days and had dinner with him and his beautiful daughter Selena, the girls all had a good time together. I've posted some pictures in my album of our trip, feel free to have a look!
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Posted 3/18/2007 12:16:52 PM
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Posted 3/2/2007 1:03:25 PM
So last friday was the big day, my Meat Loaf concert in San Diego. The day started out rocky to say the least, our plane sat on the runway in Boise for an hour while they de-iced it, needless to say we missed our connecting flight out of SLC to San Diego. The next flight was 1:30pm, and it was overbooked (stupid airlines), we were 9th on the standby list and the agent told us there was no way we were getting on that flight, I was devasted, I have been Meat's biggest fan for more than 20 years, his music has gotten me through some of the roughest points in my life, and it was my dream to see him in concert. In tears, I told my husband just to book us a flight back to Boise but he said no way, we were going to wait it out. After a long wait (and some heavy praying), the agent rushed up to us just as the doors to the ramp were closing and told us there were two seats left, and did we still want them? Hell yes!!So, I made it to the Pala Casino (which is NOT all the website says it is) and received my ticket from the front desk--6th row center stage tickets! I was so close, I could smell Meat's sweat, it was awesome! He opened with Paradise By the Dashboard Lights, and did a three hour show. His voice was so on the mark, he was amazing. The first half was all his old stuff, while the second half was a lot of his new stuff from Bat III, one of the best CD's he's made yet. He closed the show with the classic Bat Out Of Hell which had the audience rushing the stage, pretty amazing in itself as half the audience was over 50! He did two encores, with the audience on their feet the whole time. As I was leaving I walked right by Jim Steinman, the brilliance behind the Man himself, and said "hi" to him and he said "hi" back, I almost fainted! I was too flustered to say anything else, I wish now that I'd had the presence of mind to tell him how great his music is! All in all it was the greatest event of my life, and I am already looking forward to my next Meat Loaf concert!
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