Wow, What a week

[chickenscratch]

What I thought was gong to be a nice relaxing week turned very crazy. My youngest son had FFA camp from the 2nd til the 8th, so I decided to drive up to see my parents. No big deal, right. Well, it was a big deal.

I have never driven that far before by myself, so I kind of freaked out along the way, several times. Mini panic attacks or something. I almost turned around to go back home 4 or 5 times. Finally, I made it up there. Helped them do lots of work around their house and yard, stuff older folks can't do anymore.

Well, it turned out to be okay once I was there, but then I had another crazy thing happen. My DIL was due to have my second grandaughter on July 17th. Guess what, she went into labor on Friday, June 8th. Her water broke so she had to be delivered. So I drove home over the weekend. So now we have a 4 pound baby girl. Luckily she is doing pretty well.. They actually sent her home from the hospital (I think they are crazy) and today the medical equipment company delivered a special pad and light to treat jaundice. The baby has to go to the hospital every day to get weighed and have blood drawn. I hope and pray that everything will be okay.

So, that was my crazy week. And that's where I've been for those of you who have emailed asking. Thanks for your concern.

[Mary Beth]

Teresa,

You are right, what a week!! You poor girl, I hate driving long distances alone too. I usually sing at the top of my lungs and pretend that I am Aretha Franklin or who ever

I hope your new baby is going to be okay. Four pounds, wow, I didn't think they let them go home that small. If there is anything I can do, I'm there...ya know I fly for free!!

I'll be praying.

Mary Beth

[JudyL]

Teresa: I surely hope everything goes smoothly for the new grandbaby. I also don't like driving long distances alone but like Mary Beth, I'll sing at the top of my lungs most of the way.

I have a 12 hour trip to make alone next week and am not looking forward to the drive.

[Sheri Butler]

Theresa,

Breathe.....breathe...!

Congrat's on the grand baby, my prayers are with you, and the newborn.

Have you ever had those attacks before? If not, watch to see if anything like that happens again, then go and have it checked out! That is nothing to put on the back burner!

I have elderly parents that need help too. I had them build a new townhouse about 8 blocks from me, so hubby and I could get to them incase of an emergency, so I know what that's like...

Just remember to breathe...

Sheri

[annlittle1]

Theresa,

Congratulations on the new grandbaby! Its really scary when they come so early. Our granddaughter was born April 10 th but wasn't due until May 20th. She spent a week in NICU and then came home. She and Mom and big brother (22 months) stayed at my house for a month. She only weighed 3 lbs 14 oz when she came home. The first few days were scary with such a tiny baby in the house. She had to sleep for three hours, then get her diaper changed, and take a bottle in 30 minutes and then back in the bassinet for another three hours of sleep. The nurses told us that if it took longer to feed her than 30 minutes she was wasting calories. It seems our lives became about not wasting calories for about six weeks. We could hold her while she slept or we could pick her up, but we couldn't move her a lot when she slept because then she used calories. She wasn't to be in public until she was twelve weeks old. She weighs almost nine pounds now and is doing great. She gets to be out in public as of this week. Its only been the last week that she opened her eyes enough that we could see that they are a grey-blue. Its amazing how fast they grow.

Panic attacks can be so scary. I've lived with them for about four years. Mine are pretty much under control now, but once in a while I still have to deal with them. I haven't had a bad one in over a year. Crowded places, especially where a lot of people are coming at me are the most likely to set mine off (like the Shopping Frenzy at MQS last week.) If a grocery aisle has a lot of people in it, then I decide that we don't need anything down that aisle. I've learned to take slow deep breaths when I feel the tightness in my chest. I take medication and saw a therapist for a year, but the thing that really made the biggest difference was leaving a job that was creating extreme stress. I finally found a job that I love and don't have to deal with office politics; I'm a long arm quilter and when not doing that I'm taking care of my two month old granddaughter and her big brother. Don't hesitate to see a doctor if the anxiety attacks continue. They can make your life a nightmare if you don't get help. I actually wound up in the hospital and had an angiogram before the doctors could convince me that it was anxiety.

God bless,

Phyllis

[Melody]

My sons weighed 4..11 and 5..12 respectively and they came home 2 days after being born. Jacob the 4 lb one is now 13 years old 5ft 10 and 165 lbs... I Think! He caught up!! They both are totally happy and healthy!

[Bonnie]

Oh such a tiny tiny little girl....and so scary a time. I'm sure that they wouldn't ever let her come home if she wasn't in good health,and in good hands, but still you have my prayers. They still have a long road to walk until she gains some weight and gets past the jaundice. I'm not sure I would know how to handle such a tiny tiny person. Do they even make diapers that small. My smallest GD was just over 6 pounds and I thought that was tiny.

I know what you mean about mini panic attacks...2 years ago I had to drive the 1 ton from NY to Reno, NV and back, pulling a trailer....I had never driven that far before myself, AND I had never pulled a trailer. I had to pry my fingers off the steeling wheel when I stopped the first time to fuel up...after that I wasn't to bad, but I hated the bigger cities I had to go through I didn't breath until I got to the Mississippi River, once there...NO BIG CITIES to go through.

If you need anything, I know I'm far away, but ask, if I can do it, I will, just let me know.

[chickenscratch]

Thanks to everybody. The baby goes back to the hospital again this morning for more bloodwork and to get weighed. She is pretty much confined to her bassinette right now, since she has to be attached to this bilirubin machine. We can't even pick her up or anything. The only time she can be ou of the bassinette is when Tiffany is feeding her.

I'll try to post a picture of her later on. Her name is Brianna Elizabeth.

[laststitchstudio]

Teresa

Take a deep breath. You now have a wonderful new granddaughter who will be fine after a frw treatments (went thur the same with 2 of mine).

Just think fo the girly quilts you can make this one.

Also, I am not that far away and you can always get in touch with me. I can get there in a flash if you need anything at all.

[chickenscratch]

Thanks Kate. I thought of you as I was driving across I 40. I almost stopped to try to locate you, then realized I didn't know if your phone was listed in your name or not. Maybe we can get together in the fall. I've been wanting to go to Dollywood.

[QuiltsbyNini]

Congrats on the new granddaughter!

I know how scary it can be to have such a small newborn around. My niece was born so premature and small that she stayed in the hospital for 4 and a half months! When she finally came home she only weighed 4 pounds.

She is now about to celebrate her thirtieth birthday. She has two beautiful sons, and absolutely no residual heath problems.

Keep your spirits up and sends lots of prayers, and we will send some too. In a few months she will be screaming at the top of her lungs and letting everyone know who is the boss!

[kennan100]

Woo Hoo! Brand new, teeny tiny baby, how sweet! Soooo much work but soo much lovin'! Congratulations all around!

[laststitchstudio]

Teresa

You can come here anytime...would love to get together and we have a great guest room.

You need a good road trip!

[Patch]

Teresa, just wanted to tell you that I started having something like panic attacks many years back, when my DD was only about a year old. I and a bunch of other gals drove over the mountains to easter Wash. to visit my quilter friend, Swanee Pringle (the one who subsequently moved to AZ), and it was night time and pouring down rain (of course!). For some reason, when we were still about an hour away from our destination, I began having this feeling that there was just too much noise in the car, so asked folks to pipe it down. Then it was the defroster that bothered me, so I turned it off, but the windows fogged up, so had to turn it back on. Then it was the noise of the pouring rain on my windshield. Then I think I finally pegged it - I was feeling CLOSED IN by the extremely poor visibility and the lack of fresh air (it was cold so had the heat on), and the noise inside. I didn't say anything to anybody about it, but we stopped at a gas station and I stretched a little. It was better after that, but I was so rattled from having had such a strange thing happen to me that I was quite nervous until we finally reached Swanee's house. That very sweet lady then gave me a wonderfully relaxing back rub, which made me feel so very good.

Then, during the year following that, I would sometimes get that same feeling simply driving down the street. I realized I was making it worse by becoming afraid, and so I told myself this was ridiculous, and I just had to stop being afraid. I don't know if it was that or just hormones changing, but I didn't experience these feelings again until about a year ago, when I started having them when I drove on the freeway. The noise of the engine revving up to speed can bring it on, and I think it has something to do with fear of accidents or something. Also, I get it when I'm just driving down the freeway and a cloud comes over the sun. Sometimes if a cloud does that fast it gives me a sense of impending doom, probably from watching way too many movies when I was growing up, LOL! But then I think maybe there's something wrong with my eyes... A few times I've panicked so badly I thought I would faint while driving at 65 mph, which panics me even more, which makes me more afraid of fainting.

Then, the last few months I've noticed I sometimes begin to feel panicky just because I'm lying down at night to go to sleep. I don't know what that's all about, but I'm beginning to think I have some disorder or something. It's very sad, because it keeps me from driving to lots of things far away that I want to do, like visiting my DSis in Coos Bay, a four hour drive. I really want to take that trip for a few days once school's out, so I hope I can get a handle on this soon. I've noticed that it usually happens when it's raining or cloudy, and also that when I get very upset about it (I'm usually alone) and start to cry, it goes away. Odd...

Considering my DS is probably going to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder soon (I've been reading up on his symptoms big time, and boy has he got a lot of the anxiety ones!), I probably have some form of it too, so will most likely be seeing somebody about it soon.

Well, that's all a very LONG story just to show you're not alone with this problem, and I can certainly understand what you're going though.

Oh! and congratulations on the new grand-baby!!! Have so much fun making her quilts that you forget about being panicky, ok? And post a pic when you can too!