March Happenings

I have always loved March because it's my birthday month.  I turned 29 on March 7 and was able to make a quick trip back to Illinois to celebrate with my twin sister.  Twins have to celebrate birthdays together after all.  Dan was unable to make it due to calving and other farm responsibilities.  It was so good to see family and friends at Maria's housewarming party (she just bought her first house).  Lorena was a big hit at the party!  I think about everyone woman at the party got to hold her.  This was a HUGE deal for me...it was the first time I let people hold her without sanitizing hands.  Dan and I are ready to let people enjoy Lorena as much as we do.  We know that we can't keep her in a bubble forever but we definitely tried for the past 6 months.  I'm not throwing my hand sanitizer away just yet but we are getting a bit more lenient, which is probably why she has some sort of virus at the moment.  The doctor put her on amoxicillin since she is slightly congested.  She tested negative for RSV thank goodness.  She is acting fine but has a bit of a cough at night and stuffy nose throughout the day.  She is such a tough little girl.  I honestly thought it would be the end of the world when she got her first cold but she is proving to be not as fragile as I thought.

Lots happened in March before my birthday.  Mom, Dad, Addie, and Maria made the trip over for Lorena's Ratification ceremony.  Lorena was baptized in the NICU the day she was born but this ceremony introduced her to the church.  We had a big meal at Dan's parents afterwards.  It was a splendid day. 


4 generations - Elsie, Ernie, Daniel, Lorena

Family Picture

Some of the IL Family

Some of the KS Family

There are a few relatives missing in these pictures.  Michael and the boys stayed in Illinois and unbeknowst to me, Katie (Dan's sister) was in Topeka having her baby!  Lillian arrived over 5 weeks early on March 3 and weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces.  She stayed for 2 weeks in the NICU in Topeka but got to come home yesterday.  The first picture was taken the day she was born and the second picture is of her at home.  Please pray for Kate and Jeremy, as having a premature baby is a whole different ball game!  Welcome to this awesome world Lillian Leigh Olson.

 

So glad to be home

Lorena had her NICU follow up in Topeka on March 5.  They were really excited about her progress.  She weighed 15 pounds and 5 ounces and was 23 3/4 inches long.  She has been diagnosed with slight torticollis which is a tightening of her neck muscles.  She has always preferred lying with her head to the left side so we are working on getting her to turn more freely to the right.  We have stretches and exercises to help with this condition but the doctors didn't think it was too major at this point.  She is now on regular strength formula and breast milk combination and eats about 26-28 ounces a day.  She can sit up with support, smiles, reaches for toys, and laughs sometimes. 

 

Lorena has done some fun things in March too.  We went on our first walk outside.  Last week we had several days of 80 degree temps so we took full advantage of the sunshine.

 

 

 

Lorena also dyed her first Easter egg with some of her cousins at Grandma Cindy's house.

 

Dan also had his first experience watching Lorena by himself. I had adjuster training in Kansas City for work and was gone 3 days/3 nights. I have to say that I'm pretty proud of Dan. He did an excellent job caring for our baby girl while I was gone! I question some of his outfit choices like the one below but he did his best, and that's all I can ask. :-)

Nothing matches and the pants are way too small

March is also a bittersweet month for our family.  Our nephew Kaden would have been 8 this past St. Patrick's Day. He passed away in 2010 just a few months after Dan and I got married. Here is him in a picture from our wedding.

He was such a good ring bearer!  We were all so proud of him, especially proud were his parents Kevin and Laura.  I regret not knowing Kaden better.  I know Kaden isn't mad at me for not being there at all of his t-ball games and activities but I wish I could make it up to him.  I have never really thought of myself as "a kid person" and I actually thought kids didn't like me much.  Now that I'm a Mom, I am trying harder to be there for my nieces and nephews.  We all just wish Kaden was here to enjoy life's ups and downs with us. 


Sending balloons to heaven

 I will try to write more often but things never seem to slow down.  I can't believe spring is almost here.  I know we are definitely ready for warmer temperatures and longer days.  ~ Lydia

 

February!

February is kind of a blah month for me.  There usually isn't much going on.  2012 claims season has come to a close (thankfully!) so I have been able to spend some quality time with Lorena.  She is getting huge.  At her checkup on 2/11/13 she weighed 13 pounds 6.7 ounces and was 23 3/4 inches long.  She has a very prominent double chin and little fat rolls around her wrists.  She still looks like me but definitely has her dad's ears.  And for some reason her eyes are still blue.  I never thought I would have a blue eyed little girl but Dr. Linda thinks that they will probably stay blue!  I guess I can't sing Brown Eyed Girl to her after all...will have to think of another song to sing.

February's have become a bit happier since marrying into the Hiesterman Family.  Dan and his mom Cindy share a birthday on February 3.  Cindy and Ernie kept Lorena (her first time away from Mommy and Daddy overnight since she left the NICU) and we had a party for Dan's birthday.  Dan turned 30 this year.  It's crazy how 30 can seem so old when you are in high school, but now it doesn't seem so ancient.  Dan will always be a big kid at heart (which I am very thankful for).  He loves doing things spur of the moment and definitely keeps me on my toes.  I love having a day's activities planned but Dan always manages to throw a wrench in my plans. I do love him for this but it does make me want to pull my hair out at times!  Dan is also such a hard worker, something I have always admired.  He has been busy with shop projects, clearing trees, and calving season.

Last Friday, February 22nd, Lorena had her 5th synagis shot to help protect her against RSV.  She weighed 14 pounds 3 ounces.  She has moved into size 2 pampers swaddlers diapers and is wearing some 6 month clothes.  She is very responsive, smiles a lot when you talk to her, and coos a lot now.  She is holding her head up for long stretches of time and has finally grasped at some toys.  She is getting more hair too.  I attached some random pictures of her taken in February.

Lorena's First Bib Overalls

When I was pregnant with Lorena, I knew that I wanted her to have lots of pairs of bib overalls.  Dan and I both wore bibs a lot as toddlers and I just think babies look so cute wearing them.

Daniel

me in purple bibs



me in red and Maria in blue

Overalls remind me of my Dad too. He has suffered with severe back pain his entire life and wears overalls because they put less pressure on his lower back. He is the strongest man I know...truly a gentle giant.  I think having 3 daughters helped with that too.

Dad with Lorena on Christmas 2012

Also, if you know me very well, you probably have heard that I love my husband in overalls.  My friends (and Dan's sisters especially) think it's weird in general that I think Dan is hot, but I just can't help it!


My wonderful hubby



Joel and Kjersty Christy, some of our good friends from Salina, visited Lorena in the NICU when she was just a few weeks old. She was hovering around the two pound mark when they visited so she was pretty much at her tiniest point! They brought a pair of size 6 month pink camo bib overalls as a gift for Lorena. I remember looking at them and thinking it would take YEARS for her to get big enough to wear them.  We think Lorena weighs about 13 pounds by now.  She just turned 5 months old and has been gaining so much weight recently that I thought I would try them on her.  They are a bit long but fit perfectly around her chubby tummy. 

 

Not so sure about the bibs

 

I think she likes them!

 

 

 





Milk Run

Lorena continues to grow like a weed!  Last week on 1-24-13 she weighed 12 pounds 3 ounces.  She is finally getting some fat rolls and a double chin.  She is moving into size 2 diapers and is almost too small for her 3 month clothes.  We had her 4 month shots several weeks ago as she remains on the same vacination schedule as a full term baby.  As always, she takes her shots like a champ!  Only cries for 5-10 seconds and then falls asleep.  She is also doing really well at sleeping through the night. She goes to bed about 11 and usually doesn't wake up until 6 am.  Once in a while she will still wake up for a middle of the night feeding, but sometimes she will sleep until 7 am.  She is also getting so much stronger.  She is much better at tummy time, can hold her head up for several minutes when we put her in her Bumbo seat, and can move her head freely from side to side.  She is also starting to smile, coo, and be much more interactive.  Dan and I really couldn't ask for a better baby.  She is such a blessing to us and has done far better than I imagined.

The 2012 claims season is coming to a close which means I have some time off from work.  I have a few goals for February which include exercising 4 times a week, spending more time with Lorena, and writing my thank you notes for all of Lorena's gifts.  Work will pick back up in mid-March.  After such a busy claims season due to drought, my co-workers and I are looking forward to some slow work weeks. 

Lorena and I traveled to Illinois last weekend to see my family. Even though we are 6 1/2 hours away, I really want Lorena to know her Illinois relatives.  She is such a good traveler too, thank goodness.  She falls asleep once the car starts moving and we make one stop in Missouri for diaper change and food.  I think she loves the car because I drove so much when I was pregnant.

I also had a special reason to head to Greene County. If you have read my past posts, you know that I am plagued with low milk supply. I make about a 1/3 of what Lorena eats and the rest of her diet is supplemented with formula. I had heard of women using donor milk before but I had never really sought it out because I thought it was rather odd to give my baby someone else's milk! However, I do believe it was divine intervention that I met Lori Ballard. Lori lives in Roodhouse, IL with her husband and two children. One day when my Mom was at the post office (where Lori works), they were talking about Lori's newborn Ruby, and about how she had an oversupply of milk. Lori has donated to an adopted mom and NICUs in the past. I had never met Lori, but her husband Wes has known my family for a long time. I sent Lori a message on facebook and she agreed to be Lorena's donor! I met Lori last weekend and I feel very blessed to have found her. She takes extra time out of her busy day to pump milk and help provide for Lorena. I can tell she is a very generous and genuine person and truly cares about keeping Lorena healthy. I am slowly introducing Lori's milk into Lorena's diet and things seem to be going well. And I no longer think its weird to give Lorena another woman's breast milk...I actually think its pretty neat.

Me, Mom, and Lorena

First smile caught on camera



Bathtime!

Bath time in the sink

Meeting her God Mother Angela Dirks - (my college roomie and one of my best friends)

Hanging with Gramps

 

with Auntie Maria

Looking Back at 2012

Lorena has been home 2 1/2 months!  The time sure does fly by when your having fun...and adjusting to life parenting a preemie.

Looking back, 2012 was a wonderful yet scary year for our family.  2012 started off happy but on Jan 4, I found out I had miscarried after an early sonogram detected no heartbeat.  We had been going to a specialist in Omaha, NE so she performed the D and C and told us we could try again in a month or two. How could we try again so soon?  We knew we weren't going to replace the baby we had miscarried, but we knew we wanted to be parents.  Somewhere deep down, I knew I couldn't dwell on the past and needed to move on with our future.  All along I knew I had to be strong if I wanted to be a Mom.  So we tried again in March and got pregnant with help from the same specialist.  Some people are afraid to talk about infertility.  I must admit, it's not my favorite topic to talk about either.  Infertility exists and it is something that Dan and I accepted.  We did not have to do IVF but I needed special shots of medicine to ovulate.  I always knew that our path to parenthood would be tougher than others.  I shouldn't complain though.  I know other couples whose road to parenthood has been much tougher than ours.  

Flash forward to late April and I had to have emergency ovarian surgery.  That was pretty scary too!  I was about 8 weeks pregnant and there are always risks to the baby when the mom goes under general anesthesia.  Luckily my specialist in Omaha saved my ovary and the baby made it through surgery with flying colors.

Summer was a bit of a whirlwind.  Major drought kept me driving all over central KS with my job and Dan always stayed super busy with wheat harvest, haying, building our new machine shed, and daily chores on the farm.  We also were able to buy our first farm.  Rumor has it that the Barnes Mercantile building's stone was quarried from our farm and others near it south of Barnes.

August 30th I went into preterm labor (due to my water leaking for no apparent reason) and was flown to Topeka.  I recently found this picture that one of the medics took in the helicopter as we flew to Topeka.  Not my best picture, but their jokes really helped brighten my mood on the way to Topeka.

August 30, 2012 - headed to Topeka

After a week of bed rest, Lorena Ruth was born one day shy of 28 weeks on September 6, 2012 at 2 pounds 7.9 ounces and just over 15 inches long.  Lorena came home on Nov 3 after 59 days in the NICU.  Like I said earlier, time has flown by since Lorena came home.  She is a good baby.  She will sleep for about 7 hours each night!  Dan and I are getting pretty spoiled since we don't have to wake her up every three hours to eat anymore.  Lorena weighed 10 pounds 15 1/2 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long at her last check up (1/10/13) and now officially has fat rolls as seen in her picture below.

Things I've learned in the past few months from parenting a preemie:
1.  You can never have too much hand sanitizer or Lysol in stock
2.  People think you're weird when you use hand sanitizer every time you pick up your baby
3.  You belong to a special club for preemie moms...something most people will never understand since they don't know what you have gone through
4.  You are thankful for what you have gone through (in a weird way) because it makes you appreciate your kids even more
5.  Don't complain about your kids.  Some Moms never get the chance, because their babies are in heaven

11 pounds - mid January 2013

Do Farmers Really Work during the Winter?

Summer is the busiest time of the year on the farm and I often hear my husband say "I will get a chance to do some things when it slows down this winter."  Winter is supposed to be a slow time on the farm.  No crops to plant or harvest, no hay to cut and bale, and no 14 hour days in the wheat field.  However, Dan says this every summer and when winter arrives he is still busy on the farm.  I have yet to see a winter when things really slow down since I have moved to Kansas.  Winter days are filled with feeding cows, preparing for early spring calving season, catching up on projects in the machine shop which are put off during the summer, fixing fences, and finally the most time consuming job and focus of this blog...clearing brush and trees.

I have never really had to help much with this job.  I am usually busy with my full-time job as a crop adjuster.  Now that I have Lorena, I am working from home more and we spend most of our days inside waiting for warmer weather and for flu season to be over.  Today we had a small glimpse of spring so Lorena and I ventured out to the family's latest tree clearing project.

There are many reasons to cut brush:
1.  To prevent pesky little cedars from becoming giant trees that suck moisture out of the ground
2.  To keep the cedar trees from going to seed and spreading all over the farm
3.  To make firewood to heat our house
4.  To make more pasture for our cows and calves to graze on during the summer
5.  To make the pastures more efficient (trees and brush can choke our grass, providing less food for cows to eat)
6.  To make hedge posts for fences and corrals for the cattle
7.  To make the pastures "clean" (which is the main reason to cut brush in my opinion)

Here are some photos I snapped today to give you an idea of how we spend a sunny winter day:

Skid Steer is a necessary piece of equipment for clean up - Jasper appears to be helping in this one

Tree saw attached to skid steer which is used to cut down tree

Once tree is cut down, Dan uses chainsaw to cut straight parts of trunk into fence posts

Dan taking a break.  I have heard stories that he started using a chainsaw when he was 5 years old.

Uncle Phil comes to pick up fence posts

Skid steer used to pile the finished product

The crooked posts and scraps are taken to another pile.  Some good logs are saved for firewood for our wood stoves

Brush pile burning the craps and tree limbs - A common site on the Hiesterman Farm

Dan and Luke taking a break

What I do when the guys are clearing trees:

Explore the pasture.   this is some sort of cactus I found today.

Bring Dan water...it got hot today!

Take care of our chubby angel Lorena Ruth

Cutting trees is labor intensive and time consuming work.  However, the Hiestermans take pride in keeping their pastures clean, similar to how my Dad prides himself on keeping the roadsides mowed during the summer on his farm in Illinois.  Farmers are stewards of the land.  By clearing brush and keeping our trees cut, we are providing a safe and bountiful place for our cattle to pasture.  Our honey-do lists will be bigger come springtime, the kitchen floors may be dirty, our yards may not be mowed every week during the summer, and there may be iron piles scattered all over our yards, but our pastures are always clean.

.

Lots of first

Lorena has had a busy few weeks.  She loves to eat and is taking between 3 1/2 to 4 ounces of breast milk/formula each feeding.  She has slept a few times from 11 pm to 6 am (which is an amazing feeling for Daddy and Mommy) but she still gets hungry around 2 am most nights.  Her sucking reflex has improved so much in December.  We had to practically force her to eat when we first brought her home.  Dan and I had to wake her up every three hours to feed, use a finger to stimulate her cheek to remind her to suck, and use another finger to hold her chin up to keep the nipple in her mouth.  She also wasn't strong enough to keep a pacifier in her mouth.  Lorena now takes her bottle quickly and has a strong sucking reflex like a "normal" baby.  Like most parents, I really don't want her to get hooked on her pacifier...but I'm just so excited that she is strong enough to finally keep one in her mouth. Cindy is still watching Lorena while I work.  We are thankful she can take time off to help us out.  Cindy and Ernie also watched Lorena so Dan and I could go celebrate the New Year for a while!  It was a pretty tame New Years Eve...we were home by 12:15.

Cute girl

Lorena has been busy in December:
1.  She is able to keep her pacifier in her mouth

With her pacifier

2.  She likes watching the colors on the tv - she gets this from Dan

3.  She is tracking objects with her eyes

4.  She has "found her hands" and holds them together sometimes

5.  She likes holding onto my clothes when I burp her (and pulling on her Daddy's chest hair)

6.  Her eyes have turned blue.  All preemies have gray eyes and Lorena's are now blue like most newborns.  She will eventually get brown or hazel eyes we think.

7.  She took her first tractor ride!  I left her with Dan for a morning to get my haircut.  He proceeded to take a cardboard box, cut holes for Lorena's legs, and wrap her in blankets.  She slept like this for 3 hours in the tractor with Daddy while he spread manure.  She is definitely a farm girl at heart already. :-)

First tractor ride 12-18-12

8.  She made her first trip to see Grandpa and Grandma Cox in Illinois!  We still hadn't been getting Lorena out much but Dan decided that we would go back to Illinois for Christmas to keep my sanity.  I really was missing "home" since I hadn't been back since the middle of August.  So we packed up Lorena and headed east.  We were gone for 5 days and had a great time.  The weather was cold but traveling went great considering we had a newborn along for the ride.  I'm so glad Lorena likes her carseat.  I have heard of babies that scream all of the time in car seats and I'm so thankful that Lorena is a good traveler.  She usually falls asleep once the car starts moving.  Chillicothe Missouri is our halfway point and was our pitstop on the journey.  After a quick diaper change and feeding, we were back on the road.  Since we still can't have Lorena around too many people, our Christmas gatherings were spent with my immediate family only and a few friends of the family (that are like family to me).  We are also keeping her out of church because there are so many germs and flu bugs floating around now.  Christmas didn't really feel like Christmas without church service though.  Here are some pictures from our trip to Illinois:

with Grandma

Grandpa's hands are much bigger than miss Lorena's

Grandpa's little girl

with her Aunts and Cousins

saying bye to Grandma and Grandpa

Best buds from high school!  Dan got to meet Zach's crazy family too and he loved them!  

Cheering for the Illini.  Too bad we couldn't beat Mizzou...maybe next year.

9.  First time in "the Shop".  I took Lorena outside to make sure Daddy and Cousin Jason were actually working last Saturday afternoon. She wore her snowsuit even though it was 70 degrees in the shop.

Thanks Aunt Maria for the suit

10.  Had Christmas with Dan's immediate family. We missed the big Hiesterman Christmas because we were in Illinois but we were able to go to a small gathering at Dan's parents with his sisters and their families.  It was good to be together.  Lorena got lots of good gifts.

11.  Lorena is finally in 3 months clothes and size 1 diapers.

Ready to go sailing in her stripes

Sleepy princess