One day at a time....

  This past week has been very busy. Class, work, seeing Gabba in the NICU, home life, volunteering, etc. Things have been getting a little overwhelming. I'm hoping things get better when my daughter comes home. I have been so stressed being away from her. Wondering how she is doing, has her cold gotten any better, how has she done on her bottle feeds, have the doctors made any changes. It's hard.

                   After I had her it was really hard because I didn't get to have any of those normal mommy and baby moments. I didn't get to have her lay on my chest after they delivered her. I had to wait hours before I could actually go see her and then I couldn't even hold her. All I could do was stick my hands through the holes in her isolette and gently touch her. Touch her little hands, little feet, little face, which I couldn't even really see because it was all covered with tape holding in her breathing tube. It was really scary.

 My baby was only 1lb 12.5oz and 13in. Such I tiny little thing. Never thought I could love something that little that much. The next day my parents and my younger sister got here after a 16 hour drive from back home. It was so great being able to see them after so long. At first I didn't even tell my family I was pregnant. I went home in August and was almost 3mths pregnant. I didn't tell anyone but my best friends. It wasn't until I came back to VA that I told them.

Newho, At first I was really depressed when I got out of the  hospital, I couldn' t be by here whenever I wanted and I didn't have the security of being right down the hallway from her all day. I felt guilty when I left the hospital because I felt as if I was being a bad parent by not being there 24/7. I felt wrong for going places without her. The weekend after I got out of the hospital we went with my parents to the beach, it was their first time because we have lived in the midwest our whole lives, I was so sad because she wasn't there with me. Even though I was having a great time with my family, I still was sad on the inside. It felt as if everything made me think of her and when I did it usually made me cry.

 I sometimes blamed myself for having her so early. I felt as if it was my fault. As if there was something I could have done to have prevented this from happening. After awhile, and with the help of her father, it got easier, slowly but surely got easier. People say that I might have been going through post-partum depression and her being in the NICU wasn't making the situation any better. Whether that was the case or not I got through it and I am so happy to this day how the situation is. It made me a stronger person and made us a stronger family.

Now my baby is 9 weeks old, 4lbs 5oz and 16inches. She is eating off a bottle 2 times a day and is growing everyday. Hopefully she will be home in the next couple of weeks. I totally can't wait. well that's all for now!!

volunteer work....

           Volunteer work is sort of mandatory in the Navy. LOL. It doesn't mean that it isn't something that we enjoy though. I have been looking for somewhere to volunteer and I finally found a place. I currently volunteer with the Cat Corner and I go out to there Petco location and clean the cat cages and play with them.

My training day was Thursday where they taught me what to do (which wasn't that hard), so now every Tuesday I go to that location and take care of the cats. I think I am really going to enjoy it. The cats are so great. I hope that they will get a great home. SO IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED LET ME KNOW!!

                                 Volunteering isn't just benificial for the people I am helping, but it is beneficial for myself also. It's great to know that I am helping out. Especially with pets. People sometimes over look volunteering for places like this and these are places that need a lot of help. I'm not saying that other places that deal with other things aren't great but it's good for me because after dealing with people all day at work it's nice to spend some time away from them. It also feels good to socialize them and see how much they change; from being shy and not really wanting to be held, to being able to jump in your lap or walk on a leash (which I never knew that you could do with a cat..LOL)

These cats are great though. Just spending the first day with them I know they are wonderful and going to make great pets someday. I can't wait to go back next week. Might just stop by this weekend to see how they are doing :) well that's it for now.

P.S. IF YOU ARE SERIOUSLY LOOKING TO ADOPT GOOGLE THE CAT CORNER IN HAMPTON AND THEY HAVE DETAILED STORIES AND PICTURES ON ALL OF THE CATS THEY HOUSE!!!

USS COMFORT: HM3 CALIM

So I just found out that one of my coworkers and dear friends will be flying to Maryland tomorrow to board the USS Comfort that will be leaving for HAITI on Saturday. I think it is such a wonderful thing that they are going and i ask that you all please keep him, HM3 CALIM, and all of the other military members that are going to help Haiti, in your prayers. He has just recently had a child so please pray for his wife in this trying time and pray that he returns back to her safely!

RAH!!!

My Little Angel....

         On November the 19th 2009 I was blessed with a beautiful baby girl, Gabrielle V.V. Kent. I was only 26 weeks pregnant which means she was 14 weeks early. She was only 1lb 12.5oz and 13inches when she was born. Just a little bitty thing. After I delivered they rushed her to the NICU and I waitied in my delievery room for 4 hours before I was able to go see her. That was the longest 4 hours in my whole life. As they wheeled me over to the NICU I was so scared about what I was going to see. When I first walked in, all I saw was a isolette with a cover over it. As I lifted the cover I saw her. she was really red, had a tube coming out of her mouth. Her eyes weren't open. She looked like a tiny doll. She was beautiful! There have been a lot of ups and downs since that day, but it has all turned out for the best so far. It has been 8 weeks now and she is doing great. She is 3lbs 11oz, no longer is on oxygen, doesn't have to be in the isolette any more, and we have been working on bottle feeding with her. She is truley a miracle! At first i wondered why it was that God made this happen, why me? After these past 8 weeks, I still don't know why, but I have faith in his plan and I thank him for giving her to me. I just can't wait until I will be able to bring her home, but all in due time. <3 LOVE GABBA <3

STARTING CLASS

This is the first assignment that I completed for my class. It was our introduction!! :)
Hello everyone,


        My name is Wendy Czapla. I am 19 years old and a Corpsman in the United States Navy. I have been in for 17 months. I am currently stationed at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. I am a very family orientated person. I am one of 8 children and I have just about 21 nieces and nephews that I love dearly. On November 19th, 2009 I had my first child, a daughter, Gabrielle. She is truley a blessing. (You can find out more about her on my blog because I will probably be talking about her 24/7) I also have two puppies that are like my children, Smoke and Sissyie, both Pitbull/Terrier mixes. My past time hobbies are playing sports. My favorite sports by far are softball and basketball. This is my first year taking any college courses and also my first year taking an online course so this is all extremely new to me. I hope that this semester will be a great experience and that I will meet a lot of new interesting people.

v/r

Wendy Czapla