Apr 14 2007
I wanted to bring you some wonderful news. For those of you who know (and love) Jennifer - Winterland - there is an update.
Jennifer posted it on her blog here - so I will let you tell her in her own words.
Jennifer, I am so very happy about the news. It seems our prayers have been answered.
Much love,
Sarah
Mar 05 2007
Baby boy grasping
With tiny fingers fiercely
Hope springs eternal
copyright 2007
we’re trying to keep the angels busy in sean’s behalf, jennifer.
love,
sarah
Feb 28 2007
Hi Everyone, I know many of you know Jennifer of Welcome to my Shoe and the difficulty she has gone through during her pregnancy. She recently sent me an update and I wanted to pass it along to you. I’ll just let Jennifer tell you in her own words, below:
Birth Announcement
I am aware that many of you already know the news, so please be patient with this first mass mailing. 
For those of you that haven’t heard, I apologize that it is so late, but I know you all love us and will make allowances.
Sean Ezekiel Winter officially arrived in this world on February 20, 2007 at 5:31 pm. He was a little ahead of schedule, but thanks to all his gaurdian angels, he is so far doing well and staying stable. The Doctors saw that he was in distress during his regular U/S in Edmonton and an emergency c-section was immediently ordered. I am healing well, and thanks to the incredible timing, Sean is with us today.
Thank you all for your prayers, concern, support and well wishes. We will do our best to keep you informed of his and our progess. My time has run out, so i will try to send more information another day.
Hugs and love to all,
Jennifer
All About Sean
As promised, a little more information, including some quick background for those who need to be brought up to speed.
Sean has been one surprise after another. First of all the pregnancy itself was not planned, and it was a much different one for me than all the others. Then, at 21 weeks pregnant, a heart abnormality was detected during a regular ultrasound. After the specialists in Edmonton checked on it, we were told that it was quite rare and very severe. In fact, he is a first for the ped. cardiologists here in Edmonton. We were originally told that he would not survive the pregnancy, and our research confirmed this. We also found out that while some babies have survied this condition, none have been near as severe as Sean.
But then Sean has angels working overtime, I’m convinced of it. Not only did he survive longer in-utero than he was expected to, the timing of his delivery and his condition since confirms it. If our appointments in Edmonton had been a few days earlier, it is unlikely that any problems would have been seen as they were quite subtle. The c-section was ordered not because they were absolutely sure there was a problem, but because they thought it was “likely” and he was close enough to term to risk it. A day later, and he probably would not have survived. Even without the stress of labour, there was meconium in the fluids, attesting to just how stressed he really was.
It took the transport team between an hour and a half to an hour and forty-five minutes to stabilize him enough transport to the U of A hospital. I was able to see and touch his head for a few minutes before they took him away. I was released from the Royal Alex three days later, but I would get day passes from my Dr and Gavin would take me to the NICU in a wheel chair to see my baby. I got to hold him for the first time when he was two days old, and Gavin held him two more days later. We have held him some since as well, but as it takes three nurses to move him from bed to arms and then back again, it is a real treat each and every time.
Sean is very stable right now, and we are waiting for some changes to take place in the heart and lungs before any big decisions are made. The mantra at the NICU seems to be “wait and see” as it is common theme heard when talking with other parents.
As I mentioned earlier, Sean has been full of surprises every step of the way, and I can only hope that they keep being good ones. The Dr’s all agree that he is doing better than they ever expected. They are all very pleased.
oh and me? I’m sore and I would never, ever, ever choose a section over natural labour! However, the drugs are good and I’m doing well. Holding Sean and having him with us is the best therapy in the world.
Again, thankyou all for your prayers, thoughts and love
Blessings to you,
Jennifer
If I hear more information, I will pass it along. If anyone wants to email me privately about this, feel free. My contact email is on my About Me page. I am encouraged that the Angels are helping out Sean and Jennifer now - and hope they continue to do so. As I am sure you are.
Sarah
Feb 15 2007
If we look at the moon
in the same sky
on the same night
Are we side by side?
If my spirit hears you
and my soul feels you
Are you here?
Am I there?
If we are soul mates
will we find each other
and discover
We were never lost?
copyright 2007
Feb 12 2007
Zoe spreads her wings
Precocious notions are hers
to sprinkle freely.
copyright 2007
(a special gift to kelly, maureen & of course, zoe. sarah)
Dec 22 2006
(My friend Jennifer of Welcome to My Shoe has written a true Christmas story and I wanted to share it with you. Sarah)
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! FELIZ NAVIDAD!!! SEASONS GREETINGS!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! I hope you are all planning as great a Christmas season as I am!
You know, I’ve been rather quiet this Christmas. I haven’t been a grinch by any means, but I haven’t been in your face merry either! Just quiet, preoccupied, if you may. However, with one stroke of chance, that has all changed.
Why? Good question! I was hoping you would ask!
If you have explored my blog in the last two months, you might know a bit about me and my family. I’m a wife and a strongly devoted mother to four beautiful children. I’m also pregnant once again with my fifth. This pregnancy however, is different. Our baby has been diagnosed with an extremely serious heart condition and has very little chance of survival. You can read more about what we are dealing with here and here.
So with all this on our plates, I must admit that some things have taken a back seat. My son’s birthday in mid-December for instance. While he did enjoy himself and, I don’t think, felt second place, it really wasn’t the huge bash I would have liked it to be. It is only three days left to Christmas and I still have gifts to buy for my kids. My Christmas cards are sitting on my table, still waiting to be mailed. Understandable? Perhaps. Not even totally unlike me. The biggest difference has been in how I feel about it all. For the first time ever, I have truly felt as though it wouldn‘t really matter if these things were done or not.
Then, completely unexpectedly, I received one of those unwrapped gifts that my title alluded to.
Before I go on though, I have to ask you. Do you believe in fate? Do you believe that there really are no chance encounters and that everything happens for a reason? I do. Since I first found out about our baby, I have been able to feel the loving presence around us, looking out for us, and protecting this family. I can look back and see things that happened months before I was even pregnant, getting us ready to deal with this situation. Now, I know I must have turned someone off with this little spill, but please continue to hear me out. I may just make a believer out of you yet. It is Christmas after all!
Earlier this week, I had one of the very few ‘regular’ Dr appointments I’ve had in recent months. Just a routine pre-natal check-up with my regular Dr. Very nice. Afterwards, I needed some blood work done, so I was in the waiting area, hoping the lab would call me soon as I was already late for meeting my sister for the afternoon. Besides, I was really hoping to be able to crash on her couch for a couple of hours!
I waited. And waited and waited. 15 minutes ticked by. I saw the lab assistant come out and go back with some papers. Good I thought! She’ll call me soon. More time went by. The lab tech came out again, this time coming back with a coffee and a cookie. I fidgeted. I turned my attention back to the family that had been entertaining the entire room full of people for the past half hour.
It was a father with three of his children. A 14m old boy, a real little terror (I say that affectionately!) whose favorite game was I’ll-run-you-chase, and his much older brother and sister who were all too happy to comply. The father was very much into the game as well and the time didn’t go by quite so slowly with them in the room. I found out later that the mother was seeing the Dr, as she is just days away from delivering their sixth child. By the time the lab tech had disappeared back into her room with her coffee and cookie, the toddler was getting rather cranky at not being able to find Mom. The father finally plopped him on his knee and wouldn’t let him run around anymore, which really upset the poor little tyke even more.
“Let me take him, I’ll watch him,” implored his daughter.
Yes, let her take him I thought, anything to sooth an upset little one. “No,” said the father. “He needs to learn to sit still sometimes too. What is going to happen after his surgery when he has a tube sticking out of his chest and he’s not allowed to run around?” Excuses, excuses I thought.
That’s when it happened. I actually spoke up and stuck my nose into someone else’s business between them and their child. Open mouth and out flows words. My Mom always did tell me that I had to start putting my brain into gear before my mouth into motion. Sometimes it is good to ignore our Mom’s, but don’t ever tell my children I said that!
“Oh he wouldn’t feel like running around after that!” I said.
“Oh you would be surprised,” he replied. “These little kids are hard to keep down. They can have open heart surgery and be ready to go home five days later.”
Well, I couldn’t help myself again. Could you have? I asked for the story and he was more than happy to share it with me and the rest of the room. Turns out his little rambunctious toddler, that fat, chubby little cherub with the quick giggle and faster feet, is one of five children in the world. He was born with a heart condition that makes our baby look like no big deal. I was in complete awe as he told the tale and my unbelieving eyes took in the now freed toddler running and around and wreaking havoc with the magazines he managed to snatch despite his sister and brother’s attempts to corral him.
Again I say, there are no such things as chance encounters. The beautifully pregnant mom came out just as he was giving me his business card with instructions to call and ask them anything we needed to know. Pictures too, if we wanted. Timing, timing, timing. Timing is everything.
My blood work? The lab requisition form had been misplaced. Would you believe it was found and I was out of there about five minutes after they left? I know that I was meant to hear that story and we would all have been sitting there until I did!
I soared for the rest of the day, the day after that, and the next day too. I’m still soaring and I will continue to do so. The realities of our baby’s situation has not changed, but I have. I now truly believe. The joy is fully and firmly in my heart once again, and it is hope that fills my sails. I’ve heard other miracle stories, but to see that perfect little child running all over the place, keeping everyone on their toes, made all the difference.
It was the best Christmas gift I could have ever received.
Jennifer
Nov 11 2006
( for a friend who is hurting - and for whom I wish I could do much more. sarah )
Dear Mommy,
please don’t cry
I feel that teardrop
in your eye.
My time with you
may be small
but my heart’s love
gives you all.
In your garden
I will not play
but forever
I will stay
With your spirit
with your love
as your secret
cooing dove.
Hold me close
as I hold you
know that we are
ever two.
Never goodbye
never farewell
for in your soul
I’ll always dwell.
copyright 2006
Oct 03 2006
Once upon a time there was a moonbeam named Jack. He played with the stars and planets and could fly faster than any creature in the UniVerse. He was free and happy and laughed all the time.
He was not kept by any force, oath or viewpoint. Nothing held him backward or forward or side to side. He traveled where he wanted, when he wanted. And saw what he wanted to see when he wanted to see it. No one was in charge of him. He did not have to go to bed at a particular time. Everybody knows that moonbeams don’t sleep, they don’t need sleep being made of pure energy. Nor do they go to school, eat a balanced diet, or do what older moonbeams tell them to do. There was only one rule: to be the brightest moonbeam in the UniVerse (depending of course, on the UniVerse one happened to be in, because, naturally there are millions of UniVerses and some of them simply don’t allow moonbeams).
Jack lived by that rule and was the truest, brightest moonbeam who ever existed. He even learned how to make rainbows at night (this could only be done on planets where there was enough smog and pollution in the atmosphere, as clean-aired planets just can’t produce the intensity of color required.) It was this talent that attracted him to the tiny planet Earth.
He heard talk of planet Earth, a fascinating but dangerous, primitive planet. His curiosity led him there.
One August night in a place called “Seattle” Jack hovered over the San Juan islands and reflected his moonbeam shafts over the water, throwing in some G-torsional space and made a glorious pink, blue, mauve, green, purple,red and yellow “night-bow”.
So spectacular was the phenomenon that a citizen of planet Earth put it on carrier waves which other citizens watched nightly, in order to become sleepy and be able to lie down their bodies for regeneration.
Soon, many citizens of the planet stood on the shores and made approving sounds of the light show. Jack was most appreciative of their appreciation. So much so, that he thought he would like to talk to one of them.
He saw what on Earth they call a “pregnant lady” (a female who carries offspring in their belly) who stood alone. Not on the shore, but on a precipice of a structure. Her eyes shone and reflected all the colors that Jack made. He was drawn to her. He sat on her shoulder but she didn’t notice, so enthralled was she by the beautiful kaleidoscope in the sky. “I wish it would stay that way, forever,” she said.
“You do? Really?” Jack asked. She did not answer him. Maybe she did not hear him and so he asked her again and louder, “Do you really want it to last forever?”
The lady rubbed her protruding belly and smiled. “Are you talking to me?”
Jack found it curious that citizens of Earth spoke to their body parts. He perched himself on her belly and made funny faces at her. She did not react. She did not see him. Jack was perplexed. What did one have to do in order to be noticed on this planet?
Frustrated, Jack ended the light show. The disappointment of the spectators was obvious and vocal, but he didn’t care. He wanted to know why they could see his colors but not see him.
The lady sighed and went into the structure. Jack followed her and was surprised to see another citizen, a male, inside. “Show over?” he asked.
She smiled and nodded. “I wonder what it was.”
“Probably an atmospheric anomaly. They say our sunsets are so beautiful because of all the poisonous gas in the air.” He shrugged. “Who knows.”
The lady put her hands on her hips. “Well, you’re poetic, aren’t you?”
“Okay honey, what’s the matter, you want some Haagen Das?” He grabbed his coat. “What flavor?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t want any ice cream. I….you’re going to think I’m crazy…”
“I’m your husband, I won’t think you’re crazy.” Ah, this citizen was called a husband, Jack made note of it. “What is it?”
“I could swear the baby talked to me,” she blushed.
“Out loud?” asked the husband.
The lady nodded and rubbed her belly again.
Jack realized that the lady had heard him. She simply didn’t know that he was a moonbeam. She thought he was the baby citizen in her belly. The thought appealed to him. What if he became a citizen of planet Earth? It was so warm and safe inside this space. He could get used to it.
“Hey,” Jack said, “can I be your baby?”
The lady looked at the husband. “Did you hear that? Did you hear him ask if I wanted him to be my baby?”
The husband shook his head. Light flashed in his eyes. “What was that?”
Jack laughed. “You can’t hear me, but you can see me, huh, buddy?”
“Kelly,” the husband said, “I heard something. Did you hear it too?”
“I heard it, Mark!”
So intense was the happiness of Mark and Kelly that Jack felt it too. He felt a new feeling. Belonging. He felt he belonged to Kelly and Mark and his own happiness caused colors of every shade and hue to burst from him. The room glowed in his colors. Mark and Kelly gasped, then laughed, then cried.
“Is this a miracle?” Mark asked. “Is that what we’re seeing?”
Kelly clutched her stomach. “I think…it’s time,” she smiled. “The baby is coming.”
Mark reached for Kelly and when his hand touched hers he was pulled into the rainbow. They were flying above the planet, above the galaxy seeing the wonders of UniVerses. There was no pain or worry, just beauty and joy.
“He’s beautiful,” Kelly said looking at her newborn son in her arms.
“The most beautiful baby in any UniVerse,” Mark agreed. “Look, he’s smiling!”
Kelly laughed. “What should we call him?”
“How about, Jack?”
They smiled at each other. Jack it was.
And so, Jack the moonbeam, became Jack the baby. And that is the secret to babies. They are all moonbeams, waiting to be born.
copyright 2006
Loving is the only sure road out of darkness, the only serum known that cures self-centeredness.
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