We have 2 pieces of bad news since my last posting. First, a few days before I flew home for the baby shower, Wanda's sister, "Aunt Hank", passed away from medical complications. The family night was the night I flew in, and I so wanted to make it, and I would have had there not been severe thunderstorms in the Dallas area that morning. The storms were just clearing when my flight was scheduled to leave Tucson, so we are delayed from taking off by half an hour, then flew in circles in the area and extra hour before being allowed to land. Thankfully I didn't miss my second flight in to Richmond, but sadly that flight got delayed by about 4 hours. The family night was over by the time my plane even landed in Richmond. My parents and sister made the trip to pick me up, and of course on the way home we came upon a bad accident on I-64 and had another 30-60 minute delay because of that. So after leaving my home in Tucson that morning at 6 am, we finally got to my sister's house at 12:30 am. What a day. The funeral was set for the next day at 1 pm in the Charlottesville area, an hour before we had 50 people showing up at Laura's house for the baby shower, so obviously I couldn't make that either. And Jeff was in training in Texas so he wasn't able to make it. We are both so sorry that neither of us were able to make it to any part of the funeral, but our thoughts were with everyone. Aunt Hank was such a wonderful, kind, loving woman and she will greatly be missed.
Second, my dad was in a bad farm accident on Wednesday back home in Virginia. He was struck by a broken piece of farm equipment and had to be flown to the UVA hospital. This could have had a very bad ending, but because of both some good luck and the quick actions of many people, it isn't nearly as bad as it could have been.
In light of such a bad and scary accident, we have many things to be grateful for. Our farm helper Chuck was with dad when it happened and was able to get him free immediately, call 911 and go get my mom. The paramedics arrived very quickly and took dad straight to the local airport and flew him directly to the UVA trauma center rather than taking him to the local hospital that probably would have just flown him to UVA anyway with a much longer delay. The trauma doctors and nurses at UVA are top notch and have provided him with the best care and keep my mom and sister informed. It turns out that him injuries aren't nearly as bad as they could have been, he has some broken ribs which will be painful but will heal, a fractured vertebra in his lower thoracic spine (T11) that hasn't affected his spinal cord or nerves (what I was most worried about), only one small bone broken in his hand, and some internal bleeding that was repairable, although they did have to remove his spleen. So at this point, as long as he doesn't develop an infection or pneumonia, it looks like everything should heal!!! I really think my job has helped me deal with this, because I think about cases of severe injuries every day and I see how bad it can be and how well people can heal. As scary as this accident and the injuries are, he didn't die, he didn't lose a limb, no head injury, he isn't paralyzed, and any permanent impairment should be minor. Considering what happened, what more could we ask for? We truly are blessed, especially considering he has been farming his whole life and this is his first major accident. Finally, we are truly grateful for all the love and support everyone has shown us. It really is true that when something like this happens, you find out who your friends are. It looks like half the east side of Virginia is our friends! Several people have asked what they can do to help, I would say for now what is needed the most is the continued emotional support of everyone, especially for my mom and sister, and continued help on the farm to keep things going until dad is well enough to start working again ( I think this would help dad recover faster, if he knows trustworthy people are looking after things for him). Now we are waiting for dad to wake up completely from the sedation and to be able to breath on his own so they can remove his breathing tube (hopefully today). They are talking about trying to have him standing by tomorrow! What a miracle that would be. Please keep us in your thoughts.
The rest of this post will be more happy, I think we all need something happy to think about during this time! Here are pictures from the baby shower on April 18 at my sister's house. We all had a great time, and it was so nice to see everyone!
Mom loves her grandma shirt!
The men sat outside while we had the shower inside the basement. They cooked up some really tasty lamb bbq!
Gift station.
Wanda (Jeff's mom) was able to make it before the end of the shower with our nephew Evan, who really didn't think being at a baby shower was very cool :-) I'm so glad I was able to see her while I was home, unfortunately the baby was sleeping while she was there and didn't get to feel it moving. (as I write this, I'm getting poked under my right rib).
A family picture the morning I left.
Jeff got home from training 3 days after I got home, and the next weekend we got busy on the nursery. Here is daddy putting together the crib:
Here is daddy putting together the changing table (what a cute husband I have):
The finished crib! Isn't the baby fawn bedding adorable? Unfortunately, the fitted sheet shrunk (I had it on low heat so I have no idea what happened) so I don't know if I will actually be able to use it for the baby, but I managed to get 3.25 corners on. As for the bumpers, I think they are adorable but they make changing the sheet really really hard, and I know some doctors say they pose a suffocation hazard and shouldn't be used. So for now they are on there but they may come off. I found the mobile at a used clothing store for $17, it retails for quite a bit more than that and it's the same one I registered for, it works great and I'm happy with my bargain!
I washed all the baby clothes, blankets, bedding and towels (dye free fragrance free detergent and no fabric softener) and put them away, what a chore! They are all so adorable though. And I actually have quite a bit of newborn clothing and plenty of blankets, so I don't think I really need to buy more clothes until it is born and we find out if it is a boy or girl and an start buying something in colors other than yellow, white and green! I also put together the bouncy seat. Is it just me, or are the critters on the cover kind of creepy looking?
Here is the finished changing table with the new diaper bag, organizer and diapers. I figure I will get it all arranged once the time gets closer and I figure out what needs to be on the changing table.
We have taken some time off from nursery arranging since then so I need to start working on it again. I think my next post may be an inventory of what I have so everyone can help me figure out what I still need! I know that for a lot of stuff, I won't really know what I need or what the baby will like until it is here, but I feel like shopping will be so much easier before the baby comes so I want to be as prepared as I can be. Here is a picture Jeff took of me last weekend. We had just gotten back from the gym and grocery store and I was TIRED and trying to get the chicken in the oven. This is my "put the damn camera down and help me with the chicken" face. I'm glad I have such a loving and understanding husband!
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