Whipple Family Blog

Brynley was born with club feet. She had to have casts on both legs up to her thighs for eight weeks. She had new casts put on every week and a half to two weeks. During this time she had surgery on her tendons so they will grow longer. She finally graduated to braces that she had to wear night and day for six weeks. Now, she is out of her braces during the day and just wears them at night until she is four or five years. Phew! It's been a long process, but we are just grateful that this is the only problem she has had to deal with. So, here are some pictures of her casts and braces, thought you might enjoy! First Casts Blessing day! Braces!

I've been putting writing the birth story off because it's not really something I want to relive, but I decided I need to write it to remember some of my feelings and blessings that I have. And of course, to have those of you who are curious to catch up... so here goes... On the 24th, the morning of the c-section everything was going just fine. Brian was there early, and even though I was a little nervous, we said prayer and felt everything would be okay. The prep was fine, and the surgery started. Brian came in after the spinal and it quickly proceeded. It seemed like it was taking quite a lot longer to get Brynley out than I expected. I started to get the feeling things weren't going well. When they finally did get her out, she didn't cry for quite a while which was scary, but when she finally did we were so relieved. I got to see her for just a minute and then they whisked her away to the NICU. Then the placenta, which wasn't coming out. I could tell it was takin...

Yep, we had our baby and feel so blessed. Sorry it has taken me so long to post, it's been an adventure that we never expected this last week, but now we are all well and happy. She was 6 pounds 9 ounces and is 19 inches long. I'll write the story soon. Here's some pictures ... Brynley in the NICU.... Going home day!

This was written a couple weeks ago..... Brian's been a little busy. First, before I write about Father's Day, I have to tell our good news. I only have three more days left!! My practice of doctors has six or so doctors that I see on a regular basis. I do like all of them, but there is one in particular that I love (doctor Hammond) and when she heard that I was having my c-section on Friday she said, "Are you sure that you aren't 37 weeks on Thursday ?" I told her I was pretty sure and she said, "because I am on call on Thursday and I would love to do your c-section." So, I begged her to ask the high risk doctor (who apparently has most of the say here) if there is a chance I could go a day early and he said that was fine. So.... I am now due for the c-section on Thursday instead of Friday and I get my favorite doctor. I can't tell you how excited I am to be done. I tell you, it's been a long ride, but at least now there is a...

Well, I had my ultrasound on Friday (the one I have been waiting for for two weeks) and unfortunately the placenta has NOT moved. So.... I have to stay in the hospital. I know, bummer! I was really looking forward to going home. Oh, and to top it all off, my neighbor friend ( a girl right next door to me that has placenta previa too and I know all about even though we have never met) went into labor (or had an episode) that same night and had her c-section! I couldn't believe she deserted me after all this time together.... I mean, I was a week further along than her, so I was supposed to leave her. Oh the nerve!! Well, I am going to miss her though and now I am all alone in my little hallway with my own nurse who keeps telling me that I am making her life too easy. I do have some good news though. I have a set date for my c-section. It will be on June 25th . So it's not all bad, at least in two weeks I will have a baby to take home with me. And today I only hav...

Okay, even though I didn't get to participate in Kid's Day this year, I still can blog about it right? I just have to after hearing what a good time they had. And, even though I didn't get to participate much (although they did come visit me), grandma and grandpa were there with them, so they had just as much fun. So this is what they did this year: * Woke up early, did our usual shopping for cold cereal (they all get to pick whatever cold cereal they like) then headed to the park to eat it and played at the playground for a while. *Next they all visited me in the hospital, which I loved even though they were all pretty much on a sugar high... * Left grandma to spend the afternoon with me, and they headed out to go ice skating. This was Raegan's first time ice skating. Usually she just sits up at the top with me and envys her sisters. Apparently she had the time of her life and couldn't get enough. Brian or grandpa would take her little hands and pull her around ...

I still can't access my blog from the hospital, but Brian is still willing to post them for me from his email, so if you're wondering why I haven't posted pictures forever this is why. Maybe when I get out, I will get some pictures up. So, in the meantime it will just be my writing. Well, I have some news this week. It feels good to actually have some progression to say about this pregnancy instead of the same old thing. It's quite a big change or can be at least. I had another ultrasound on Friday (33 weeks) and the placenta has moved! Yes, it actually moved a little. It's still on the verge of the cervix, which means I'm still marginal placenta previa , but my doctors are really hopeful that it will be moved in two weeks. They've each told me that this hardly ever happens with complete previa, so I'm really lucky, or blessed I should say. So now, I have to stay two more weeks and they will do another ultrasound to see if it has moved all the way. If ...

Quite a few things happened this week. One, is that I reached 32 weeks with no major issues. I am quite thrilled that I made it this long and I still feel sane. I don't know, maybe you'll have to ask my husband if I really am.sane.... I had another ultrasound and everything looks pretty much the same, no movement from the placenta, and the baby looks fine. The doctor did say that 32 weeks is a major milestone, so Bri and I are going to celebrate with ice cream of course. Can't wait. I'm still here in the hospital, and the doctor today told me I will be here until the end. The good news is that she also told me that at 36 weeks, I will have an amnio to see if the baby's lungs are strong enough, and then the c section. So..... only three and a half weeks left!!! I've done five weeks, what's three and half more right? The happenings with the family- Ashtyn is riding a bike!! Yes, she does it all alone. About a week before I went on bedrest sh...

In two days, it will officially be four weeks since I have been in the hospital. It's actually gone by faster than I thought it would. Although some days I think I am going crazy and just want to break out and run the halls, most of the time it hasn't been terrible. I've watched way too much tv and movies, read some books and lots of magazines, eaten way too much chocolate, learned how to knit while listening to books on mp3 (thanks Mendy!), and talked my nurses ears off. It seems like the life right? It actually is sometimes. I'll probably miss it when I am back to my normal routine, making meals, doing dishes, laundry, etc. etc., and of course all that with a new baby. So, this is what keeps me feeling sane. I won't get this again for a very long time, might as well enjoy it. Oh, and it has helped so much to have so many of my kind friends and family visit, call and write letters. Thank you, thank you! I can't tell you how much it has meant to me...

I think the hardest part about being in the hospital for so long, is not being with my girls. I get to spend quite a bit of time with Brian, which is so great. After he gets the girls to bed, he comes up to the hospital to be with me. I love it, and don't know what I would do without him. But, I still have that ache in my heart for my sweet girls. I do get to see them, but it's so different than being with them, loving them, and caring for them, basically being their mom. Somehow, even though I know I'm doing the right thing for our family and our baby, I can't get over the fact that I'm not being a mom to them right now. I almost feel like I've abandoned them. Yes, it's only been a few weeks, but it feels much longer. Are my two little ones old enough to understand that I don't want to be away from them? That I would much rather be there with them during this time? I don't know if they are. Yet, I feel they are safe and happy. I f...

I was hoping to stay up on my blog now that I am in the hospital, but apparently the hospital has blocked any websites for blogging or Facebooking, so I finally decided that I would make the most of it and email Brian my posts and have him blog it for me. So, here goes... Well, as most of you know, it's been quite a crazy five or so weeks for our family. On my 19th week check up, during the ultrasound, my doctor told me that I have placenta previa. She said that it was marginal and that hopefully it would resolve itself by the end of the pregnancy . I was actually kind of expecting it because of all the low lying problems I have had from the beginning. She didn't give me any instructions of bedrest though and just reassured me that it would be good in a way, because I would get extra ultrasounds. So... I didn't think much about it. About four weeks later when I was around 24 weeks along, I woke up at two in the morning with pretty heavy bleeding. Since it...

Shaylee has been waiting for her baptism and to turn eight for a long time. It feels like a really long time to her, since she is taller than her older sister and sometimes I think she thinks that she is older. So, to have Teralyn get to go to Activity Days, to get to stay home by herself for a couple of hours while I run an errand, and to not have to sit in a booster, was a huge deal! She just kept saying, it seems like all the good things happen when you turn eight. But, when I questioned her about the "good things" she put baptism on the top of her list, which made me smile. So, she finally made it to eight and as it turned out, she was baptized on her birthday. She was quite excited. I always stress out a little before a baptism. I'm not sure why. It seems I want everything to go perfect and then distract from the spirit of the ordinance. But for Shaylee's I was determined to not stress out about it, and enjoy the day. A few days before her baptism, the bishopri...

Oh man, has it been that long since I have written?? I really have no excuses now, except I love taking an afternoon nap. Thanks Bri for doing the last blog. I guess he was getting tired of waiting around for me to write. And look how good he did! I mean, I should just turn it over to him.... I'm sure he'd love that. Okay, on to business. So.... most of you know, but we are having our fifth GIRL!! Crazy huh? I think it is, what are the chances? Brian figured it out for me and it's like 3% chance or something. I just think the Lord knows I'm not up for the craziness of boys. I am excited though. I mean, I'll always get my girls home with me for Thanksgiving and Christmas right? And, just think of all the fun girls night outs we will have. That is, if they invite me. I better make sure they know right now that I want to be invited. Oh, I'm sure they will.... but just in case. Okay, so that is our big news and Bri couldn't be happier, so don't you dare sa...

Okay so Brenda is taking entirely too long to blog about the snow and our vacation. I mean we have been back for over a week and still no blog. To make matters worse, we just found out the gender of our next child (no I'm not going to tell you'll just have to wait until Brenda blogs about it) and with Shaylee's baptism this Saturday, those things will take precedent over the vacation and snow and they will just get lost in the background of our busy life. So I guess it is up to me to document these important events in the Whipple families lives. Part 1: SNOW This story really goes back to just before Christmas when we got the first big snow storm of the winter season. At the time I was thinking "okay in Maryland we usually get one big storm every three to four years so it looks like this should last us for the winter." This was really frustrating because the storm hit on a Friday afternoon and I didn't get a single snow day out of it! Quick Aside: For those of...