A Mothers View: Kristie

NOAH'S FIRST MONTHS OF LIFE

My life as a mom and wife completely changed when MY ANGEL was born. I would say it changed for the BETTER. From the moment the doctor put Noah in my hands, I fell in LOVE. It was almost like falling in love with my other 2 children, but something was different about Noah. Once the nurses cleaned my baby, and placed him back in my arms, I knew something was wrong. Under his perfect little fingernails and toenails they were blue. They checked his oxygen several times before allowing us to go to our room. Everyone assured me my BABY was just fine. The two days we were at the hospital his breathing just sounded not normal to me. The doctors assured me that it was NORMAL. They told me it was because it was such a fast birth and mucus was still in his lungs. HE WILL GROW OUT OF IT. I eventually began to hate this these six words. Such simple words became my worst enemy. The next couple of days at home were scarey. Noah sounded like a baby pig breathing. He snored so loud, that he would wake his self up. His first visit with his pediatrician was confusing to me. I KNEW in MY HEART something was not right with my BABY. The doctors tried reassuring me HE WILL GROW OUT OF IT. Diagnosis: Infant Congestion...... Guess what I'm his mom and I am telling You, actually BEGGING,PLEADING with you, I now that this diagnosis is wrong.

Noah's breathing actually got a little better. So maybe the doctor was right ,just maybe he did grow out of the noisy breathing. Then at four months old it started again. This time it was TEN TIMES worse. Not only was my baby not breathing normal, he was not sleeping, he was on reflux medicine, he was still taking a bottle from a preemie nipple that would take him over an hour to drink 6 ounces. Also he was a full term baby not premature.

By the time Noah was 8 months old, things were pretty much unbelievable. My baby was still not sleeping, still not breathing normal, and I knew that he was not not Growing out of whatever was consuming his little body....I also knew that whatever we were up against Noah would win.....

THIS IS WHERE OUR JOURNEY BEGINS!!!!!!!
Kristie Stewart

Operation: Mommy Time

CWL would like to introduce our newest program,
Operation: Mommy Time

We at CWL know how hard it can be to find some "me" time in the mists of being a full time mommy... top that with a floppy larynx and you have yourself one tired, over whelmed, nail polish chipped mama!

CWL is here to help change that!

Each week CWL challenges YOU, LM Supermama's to take a time out and have some well deserved "Mommy Time." Each Monday we will talk about what everyone did, who watched the baby and how we all felt about taking a few minutes for ourselves.

Now, I know you all saying-- "But, I don't have a babysitter!"- "I can't leave my baby!"- "I'd love a day at the spa but money is tight!"

It's not about HOW much you do... it's simply about the fact that you took time out of your crazy life to stop and concentrate on YOU. Sometimes just taking a hot shower and reading a good book before you go to bed is enough.

Now go... get your calender and pencil in some Mommy Time!

Remember, be ready to talk about what you did on Monday!

A Mothers View: Becky

Hi All

For those of you who dont know me, i am Becky and i am mum to a beautiful little girl who turned 14 months yesterday :) and like many of your children, Hollie has lm.

Hollie's birth wasnt easy, she was 17 days late and born by emergency c section, and she was in SCBU for 8 days, she was born with a collapsed left lung and had to have surgery at 6 hours old to reinflate it. However at 2 days old Hollie became 'noisy'. She was scoped 3 times in her first 8 days of life, and was diagnosed with suspected mild Lm. At 2.5 weeks old we were referred to our local
Children's hospital where Hollie was scoped again and officially diagnosed with Laryngomalacia :), and so our noisy and medicated life started :).

We were very lucky as Hollie only had mild Lm, and although at the time everything seemed like a battle, her main problem was reflux but after a while it was under control with medication, and Hollie started to thrive although her weight gain was minimal, it was regular and she followed her centile. Don't get me wrong, it was hard, bottles were a nightmare and it would take hours for Hollie to have 4oz. I was physically and mentally exhausted! I had a good support network from my husband and mum, but as a mum, as Hollie's mum, i felt i had to cope and if anybody else tried to help i felt i was a failure as it was MY job as Hollie's mum to care for her and if i couldnt do that 24 hours a day 7 days a week i had failed Hollie. So our journey into the world of Lm and coping began.

Over my next few blogs i will share our journey, the highs and the lows, the good and the bad. BUT remember things will always get easier :)

Love Becky xx

A changed mother

Motherhood changes a woman. She leaves the hospital forever changed.
I remember leaving the hospital with my first, Lilli... thinking... how can I be the same person? I just witnessed a miracle.
Just like motherhood changed me, so has having a baby with a defect.
For a very long time I struggled with this new chapter in my book of motherhood. I never felt strong enough to be a mother of a "sick" baby. I was angry...a lot...all the time. I cried constantly and constantly kept wishing for yesterday.
I couldn't keep up with the constant doctors appointments, the hospitalizations, the packing and unpacking, the medical bills, the lack of support from certain people in my life.
I was allowing myself to drown in my own life.
I would be so annoyed my house was never clean, the girls clothes were never organized, like they once were. Seraphina's first birthday came and went... we didn't have a party until almost 6 months later. Most days, I had no idea what day it actually was.
Wait, did I wear these yoga pants yesterday? Eh.. whatever, how am I trying to impress?
Then I realized something... my life has changed.
I have changed... and perhaps my house isn't always --eat off the floor--clean because having my baby breathing is more important. Enjoying the days when both my kids are happy and healthy takes top priority on the to-do list than re-organizing clothes that they are going to grow out of in three months anyway.
Do I sometimes find myself... in the mists of searching for that late medical bill ...fantasize about my prior life... of course. I will never have that Pinterest kind of life, my camera is never charged, there will always be a pile of lost socks, a to-do list longer than Seraphina is tall, a car that has so many crumbs on the floor you could make a crumb cake... and you know what? That's okay with me because at the end of the day... my kids are happy & healthy... we are no longer living life in between hospital stays... I spend my time with my kids instead of looking for lost socks...
Lilli is now 3 and half years old... Seraphina is hours away from being 2. Every night I give them a bath, brush teeth and read 3... 4... stories... as I am putting the books away Lilli will ask me, "Mommy, what did we do today?" And we have a recap of the day. We talk about what we did, who we saw...ect...And every night I walk out of their room thinking... THAT is much more important then vacuuming out the car.
~Stephanie