It's been a while....

It's been a while since my last post. As always, it's been busy around here! I'm happy to report that Noelle is doing AMAZING with her stander!! I can even periodically "let go" of her and she'll stand on her own. Of course, holding onto the stander. She is getting really strong and I can't wait to share this new news with the PT. :) :) She's growing up soooo quickly! Andon had an awesome week last week and even got to have a play date at Sport Bounce. We both had a blast!!!

Last week I attended the March for Babies Kickoff Breakfast. I gave a small speech about our story and why the March of Dimes is so important to us. I think I did well...I was actually slightly nervous and that took me off guard. Here is a copy of my speech

"Hi, my name is Stacie Mikels. In 2006, I had the perfect pregnancy, the easiest delivery and a beautiful baby boy we named Andon. In 2007, I found out I
was expecting my second child. My husband and I were so excited and expected my pregnancy and delivery to be very similar to my first child. I have
never been so wrong.

My daughter, Noelle was born on June 26th, 2008 at 24 weeks gestation. She weighed 1 lb 11oz and was only 12 inches long. Many people told me she was the size of a king sized Snickers bar. My delivery was such an emergency, I was put under general anethesia. Because of that and other pregnancy related complications, I was not able to see Noelle until the next day. When I finally got to see her, she was under lights that seemed to be coming from heaven, she was tiny and had tubes and wires everywhere. I thought she was the only baby in the room. I had no idea what a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was or what they did. I just knew my baby was tiny, sick and too fragile. Never in a million years did I imagine a baby
that small being able to sustain life outside a hospital. My husband and I hoped for the best but prepared for the worst. After 6 ½ weeks, I got to hold
Noelle for the first time. I have never been so excited and so scared in my life! I held Noelle for 3 incredible hours. In those hours, Noelle’s numbers were
the best they had been. The next day, she came off the ventilator! For the first time, I felt like I had done something great for my child.

The NICU was now our extended family that we would always be in debt to. The March of Dimes Program at the Fairfax NICU was invaluable. They provided tons of
education, support and even scrap booking classes. The March of Dimes even had Santa come in during the holidays. My daughter was in the hospital for
Christmas…yet Santa still found her! I got a note at her bedside with the picture that said “Santa knows where to find all precious babies.”

After 222 days in the NICU, 2 surgeries, 19 blood transfusions and countless procedures, Noelle came home on February 2nd, 2009. It hasn’t been easy and there have definitely been bumps in the road. However, Noelle is now a happy 19 month old. She is still on oxygen, a feeding tube and is developmentally delayed.
Nonetheless, she is the smartest, happiest, sassy toddler who has come an unbelievably long way!

I am so thankful for the March of Dimes and the support they provided my family while Noelle was in the NICU. I hope that you will all join my family and I
as we walk at March for Babies this year. Thank you all for your support!"


It was fun to share our story and a few people even told me they had tears in their eyes from my story.

Late last week, Noelle went in for her hearing test. Luckily, the doctor confirmed that Noelle can hear...YAY!! I think we all knew that...just needed a confirmation and it was requested by the neurologist. I said it before and I'll say it again....selective hearing runs in our family. She has really picked up on that trait and choses when to listen. Shocking!

In the past two weeks, I have been really busy starting up my own company! I named it Everyday Miracles, LLC. I am now a Service Facilitator for the EDCD Waiver, which is the waiver Noelle is on. For those of you that don't know a whole lot about the waiver program...it is awesome because it provides parents with help throughout the day/week in the form of attendants. It helped me a lot when I was still working outside of the home and I never would have been able to return to work without the waiver. It makes it so parents can get extra hands to help do basic care needs for disabled children or elderly. It is an amazing program and I'm so excited to be able to help families in tough situations and get them the help they need. Waivers also allow people to qualify for Medicaid without financial regulations.

In the coming months, I hope to be able to expand Everyday Miracles to help with other waivers and community support. It is exciting to be working from home!! It really makes me feel like I'm contributing to my family again. I've never been one to sit around and am really enjoying being a new stay at home mom....so this is the best of both worlds!! I can basically decide how much I want to work and go from there!

The March for Babies is coming up incredibly soon. Unfortunately, we are no where near our goal for Team Go Noelle! Please, please, please donate to our team or find someone who can! I hate to beg...but I'm begging! It's a great cause...I promise!! :) :) Even $10 would make a huge difference. Donate what you can...I appreciate anything you can give!! :) :)

Noelle's neurology appointment is coming up next week...we'll see what this appointment brings!! Say a little prayer! Thanks for all the support and prayers!!

xoxo,


Stacie :)