Writing Exercise Board

Hi everyone,

I'm Rebecca, and I am stepping out of the writing closet here on iVillage.  I've been a member of iVillage for years thanks to the TTC boards and now the PG boards.  But I've always been a writer and since my daughter has been born I'm finding it more and more important to build a community of writers around me for support and encouragement as I try to manage mothering and writing all at the same time.

So hello!  I'm glad to be here and I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Thanks for the welcome!

Right now I'm working on a nonfiction book "How to be Happy, even if your life sucks" (working title).  Before I was a mom I was a marriage and family therapist.  I worked with foster kids, couples, and troubled teens.  Then I spent some time working inpatient psychiatric care.  Now that I'm not working I feel like I have the time to write down all the suggestions that I kept repeating over and over again and turn them into a book that will hopefully help some people out.

I'm also trying to get back into fiction writing (which kind of fell by the wayside after Lily was born) and I'm looking towards NaNo to get me started.

As for the baby-well I love the story so forgive me if its kind of long.  :)

Lily was my miracle baby-conceived after 4 years of unsuccessful trying and a year of unsuccessful fertility treatments.  The pregnancy was blissful, until my blood pressure went up late in the first trimester.  Lily was growth restricted by 24 weeks, I was on bedrest for 2 weeks, in the hospital at 27 weeks due to lack of blood flow through the umbilical cord, and at 29 weeks I developed HELLP syndrome.  Lily was delivered at 29 weeks 2 days and weighed 1lb 11oz.  I nearly died during surgery-they couldn't stop the bleeding and sent DH out of the room.  Luckily I survived, and Lily survived (which they didn't think she was going to).  Lily spent 82 days in the NICU-the absolutely hardest 82 days of my life.  She had 3 rounds of antibiotics, 2 infections, a lumbar puncture and 4 transfusions.  She was on oxygen for 6 months and dealt with reflux and slow growth. 

But the reason I love this story is that now, against all odds, my daughter is thriving.  She is developing normally for her corrected age and has no known health concerns (though we have several specialists watching her very closely).  I am in awe of her.

Your and Lily's story is aboslutley awesome. Makes you believe in miracles. So happy to hear she's thriving.

Our Lily Ana got an early start, those not so early as yours. she came 17 days before her due date. She was perfectly formed at 18" and 6 lbs 3 oz but the tiniest baby I'd ever seen. Sounds like about 3 times the size of your Lily though. I can't imagine such a tiny being.

My daughter has thyroid issues and asked us to do prayers that she would conceive. We planned to do a complete reading of our scriptures but becasue her husband had to go out of town for a week, we began reading for someone else. I stayed at her house meanwhile and by the time we were ready to start hers we learned she had become pregnant. So we did our prayers for a healthy baby and delivery.

After the birth, it took 5 days for her milk to come in and our Lily's daddy had to feed her formula through a tiny tube taped to his little finger while my daughter recovred from childbirth. It took a month or so for her to learn to nurse well. She's always been strong and what a personality.

She is 80% of hheight for babies her age but oly 15% weight. She doesn't looks skinny like my son did, (he was a month early and about the same birth weight only a an incha and a half longer. Still is very slender at 28 ;), but she probably still has a little cathcing up to do.

My daughter and one of her closest family friends she grew up with, swapped due dates exactly. The other gals baby being 17 days late was an 8 lb baby and has always been bigger than our Lily.

I understand now what you mean by corrected date. My daughters best friend from 3rd grade on, has a little girl who just turned one. She was a 7month baby. Her mom 's water broke when she was only five months along and she had to stay in the hospital until the birth. Her little girl is SO beautiful and always smiing like she is so happy to be here.

Between us we certainly have abundant blessings and much to be thankful for.

I think your book idea is really great! I've had my share of therapy sessions which mainly focused on communication skills. I have several books that I reccommend to anyone having communication issues. Maybe one day I'll be able to add yours to my list :)