On Friday, it will be 3 weeks that my sister-in-law, Heidi, who lives in Florida had her 3rd baby. The baby was having some problems initially, so my brother went to "transition" with him, just to make sure things were alright. When he came back, all of the doctors were in a panic, and there was blood everywhere. Heidi was loosing so much blood, that they determined an emergency hysterectomy had to be done. Her blood pressure was so low, that they were not able to give her any anesthetic. While in surgery, her blood tests came back positive for a condition called DIC. This is a very serious medical condition in which the blood coagulates in the veins, instead of at the sight where it should. You essentially end up bleeding to death, because there is no way to stop the bleeding. DIC has a horrible nickname called Death-is-coming, in reference to those who contracted bubonic plague. They would go into DIC before dying, which would turn their skin "black" from the blood collecting under the skin. It was also referred to "the black death."
It was determined that she lost 79% of her blood, and had to be given over 20 units of blood. A normal person has about 5 units in them. Over 20 doctors worked on saving her, and she was then transported to a trauma hospital so she could be watched 24/7. There is a real risk for stokes, as the body has so many blood clots in it.
It was quite an ordeal! I am happy to say that we witnessed many miracles over the course of the next few days. Lots of prayers, fasting and blessing were given, in which Heavenly Father answered in our favor.
I was able to fly out and help her and my brother with the baby. We had a similar near death experience with my daughter when she was 4 years old. She had a seizure that lasted over 3 hours. She was life flighted to a childrens hospital and stayed in intensive care for 5 days. I somewhat know of the loneliness and pain that it is to wonder what will happen. I wanted more than anything to be able for him to have someone to talk to, and to help with the baby.
Heidi has made an incredible recovery. The baby, whom they named Jacob, is doing well, and is the most adorable baby in the world! Such an angel too. He couldn't have been easier to take care of.
My sweet little nephew "Jacob". An angel on earth.
I'm sorry to bore you with this story, but it has had such a huge impact in my life. I hope it will help you all to cherish those you love.
My sweet little nephew "Jacob". An angel on earth.
Before I left, Melanie had to throw together a baby gift. I made the blanket, and my Sister-in-Law, Melanie made the diaper bag. If anyone is interested in the directions for the blanket, let me know, and I will post them. I just kind of made this up using my scraps.
I was able to get some stitching on done on block 5, mostly on the airplane there and back. I was suppose to have this done by the end of June, but my priorities have taken a major shift!
Before I left, I managed to start this great quilt by blackbird designs. This is from the book "Women of Grace and Charm". I cut this out almost 2 years ago. I've run into a snag on block one. It seems that there is another set of borders that aren't the right dimensions in the book. If anyone had done this quilt I would love to know if you had the same problem!
I've also started getting the appliques done for this cute quilt by Quilt Soup. I'm still working on the flowers. I like to do the "spray starch" method on my appliques. I will stitch them on by machine. My daughter loves to "paint" the spray starch on the edges. She saves me a lot of time!
I know the 4th of July is over, but I just barely got my decorations out yesterday! I figure we can look at them for the rest of the month! I love this twisted threads design. I finished it last year.
We have several stitchers interested in stitching Shepherd's Bush "Sail Away". We will be starting on Aug. 5th. If you are interested please leave a post. So far we have the following members:
1. Terri
2. Me
3. Kristin (no blog)
4. Teresa (no blog)
5. Kelly (no blog)
6. Cindy (no blog)
7. Mel
8. Lenna
9. Glenna
10. Katrina
11. Cari
12. Lizzy
We have 3 maybes! Come on and join us. We won't make it hard, promise.
1. Melissa
2. Margaret
3. Annie
If I've left you out, please let me know. I think this is a great number. If you've already stitched this, then you could stitch along with another Shepherd's Bush design. That would be fun.
If all that are confirmed want to send me their addresses. I have a little surprise coming for you! You can e-mail me at Hiddenheart@kellerits.com.
Have a wonderful week! I hope you are all having a wonderful July!
