Friday, August 20, 2010

Blake and Palmer Moran Charity Account

Here is the information on the charity account that has been set up for Blake and Palmer Moran. I know some people have asked my family and I where they could make donations so here is the information if you or your church, etc. would like to donate some money to help support these babies and help pay the hospital bills that insurance does not cover!

Account Information:
Regions Bank
Blake & Palmer Moran Chairty Account or Kristen Moran Charity Account


Anyone can go into any Regions and ask to donate to this account. If you would like to donate to this account please e-mail, call, or text me to get the account number!

Updates on the girls & my sister

Not much change this week, which is a good thing we think! At least no one has taken a turn for the worst! :) Palmer is getting stronger and stronger everyday and is progressing along just as she should be! Blake has been back & forth on her blood pressure but as of yesterday she was doing good and had not had to have anymore epi, so that was wonderful news! They had to postpone the MRI for a few weeks but were going to do x-rays and compare the results to see what the status of the tumor is and if it was growing, etc. But, from what the docs have told them they seem to think she is doing great and they are very happy with where she is currently at. So if they are happy then we are happy! My sister is still doing great as well so we could not ask for more right now. Thank you all so much for being here for my family. We truly appreciate it all! Thanks so much!

Friday, August 13, 2010

The babies are coming....WHAT??

As many of you know by now that my sister had the twins on August 9, 2010. It was very unexpected and an emergency situation. Very scary for my sister, Jeff and both of our families. Once everyone found out that the babies were on there way both our families went into panic mode and were arranging a way to get to Cincinatti as quick as possible. Which by the way is not a very easy task. No direct flights come to Cincinatti from Birmingham and it takes 8-9 hours by car. We had all feared this would be the case whenwe found out the babies would come. But, we had hoped it could be a calm planned event. If you know my family then you would have been able to guess that it would be total chaos!

After getting a message that Kristen was about to go into surgery while at work I immediately got on the computer to look at flights. Then I received a phone call from my sister which made the whole situation worse because she was scared and crying hysterically and then I became flustered and lost any sense I had left at that point. I worked everything out with the Sawyer's, ran home, packed my bags, and headed out to Justin's work so he could take me to the airport. During all of that I was constantly talking to a family member getting updates and working out our traveling plans. So in the rush of all that I got lost downtown trying to get to Justin's work which did nothing to help me. After talking to him I found out that he had talked to the Birmingham Airport and that Delta had delayed my flight until 7:00 which would make me miss my connecting flight in Atlanta, where I was supposed to be meeting my parents to get on a flight all together that would take us to Cincinatti. This sent me into a tail spin and decided that I had to make the flight in Atlanta to go to Cincinatti and if I could not fly there I would have to drive! So I got back on the interstate and started driving. Justin then informed me the only way I could make it on time would be me driving atleast 80-85 mph the whole way. I put the petal to the metal to race against the clock to get to the Atlanta airport by 8:00. About 30 minutes outside of Atlanta I began to retrace my steps when I was packing my suitcase. I then remembered that I had try to purchase my plane ticket at the house and after my computer continued to drag along I had called Justin and told him to book my flight for me. So at that point is when I realized I had taken my wallet out and taken it with me into the computer room to pay for my ticket and I had never gone back in there to get my wallet. So I grabbed my purse and turned it upside down to find there was no wallet in there or anywhere else in my car. Which by the way held my oh so important driver's liscense that is a requirement when you fly or drive for that matter. Already a basket case of emotions I began to cry again for the hundrenth time in 3 hours and called me Dad to let him in on the bad news. My mother and father were already at the airport at our gate waiting for me. Daddy told me to keep driving to the airport and he would try to figure something out. I arrived at the airport parked and ran to the check-in stations. My Dad was waiting for me and Justin checked me in online and Dad said that we would try and see how far we could get through security without my i.d.. We went to the first inspector told him the story and he sent us to another guy who we told the situation to and informed us that he would allow me to go through but I would have to go through the detailed screening process that they do on suspicous people. We agreed to it and then started the race against the clock again. They patted me down went through my carry on with a fine tooth comb and used all of those procedures they have to do on me. They asked if I had anything sharp in my purse and thats when I remembered I had taken our melon baller to work that day to make watermelon balls for the boys. I explained that to the workers which they had no clue what a melon baller was but allowed me to keep it in my purse. Finally they let me go and we ran as fast as we could to our gate and still had almost 30 minutes before our plane took off. While we were waiting to board our plane I threw away some trash I had. Immediately after doing that I realized that my boarding pass was missing. About the time I knew it was in the trashcan the trashcan compacted all the trash in it. OH NOOO!!! So my sweet sweet father reached in there and found it soaking wet with nasty trash juice and funk all over it! Luckily it was almost our turn to get our boarding passes scanned so I did not have to hold it very long! :) After our flight the sweet Bradley family was waiting for us at the Cincinatti airport to take us to the hospital to see my sister and the babies.

So we are still in Cincinatti but my grandparents, Ashlyn Kay and me are all leaving tomorrow morning to head back to sweet home Alabama. My sister is getting out of the hospital late this afternoon and Jeff and her will then head to the Ronald McDonald house to stay for the next week or two. Depsite all of the drama we encountered with the twins those first few hours after they were born luckily they are both doing exceptionally well and continue to improve everyday. My sister has been through so much and is still is chipper as always. She had been feeling better but had a minor set back yesterday when she got a full blown spinal block headache. Which is possible after having a c-section. She says she feels much better today but it is not completely gone yet. The doctors say it usually last for seven days and she is on day 5 today so hopefully it will be healed in two days. It has made it very difficult for her to see the babies while having this headache. She got to hold Palmer for this first time two nights ago and so that really helped because she had been very anxious to get her hands on them. They took Ashlyn Kay to see Palmer today for the first time and she looked at her but then realized how many other babies where in there too and wanted to see all of them. Haha.

Overall the babies are great but have a long way to go especially little Blakely. Blakely will have the rest of her surgery in 4-8 weeks depending on how well she continues to do. She seems to be very strong but we know she has a lot to keep fighting for. So we will continue to pray for God to help her grow strong and healthly so she can get better and stronger everyday. Palmer is moving right along the way she is supposed to and they think she will be able to go home by the end of September. It is going to be very hard for our fmaily to be away from my sister and these babies everyday but we are planning on visiting as often as we can. Luckily my sister and Jeff have the Bradley's her in Ohio to be there whenever needed and so that is reassuring but still hard because we all want to be here every step of the way. So our prayers to the good lord are to protect these babies and watch over them very closely and help them have the strength to get better and stronger. Help Blakely as much as possible through her journey to getting healthy and giving her the will to keep fighting!

We thank all of you who have been so very kind to our family and who have prayed so hard for these babies.

Also, just some information for some people who have been asking about sending donations, etc. for the babies and my sister and Jeff. They are setting up a foundation account at Regions Bank and will post the details as soon as I know them. It should be up and running by next week. Also, here is there address here in Ohio.
Address: 9378 Mason Montgomery Rd., Suite 353, Mason, Ohio 45040

And to follow up with my sister and the twins day to day check out her blog at www.ohbaby2010.blogspot.com

Thanks to everyone and will update soon!

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Ice Cream & Chili State

I made it back to Alabama safe and sound! It was a bittersweet homecoming for me because I missed Justin and Murphy Brown so much but I wanted to be with my sister as well. But, I knew I needed to get back to work and be with my hubby, which I was very excited about! My journey back to the South was a bit long but not too bad.

My sister, Dad, and me had a great time together in Mason, Ohio which is where my sister, Jeff and Ashlyn Kay are staying for now. A wonderful and generous family named The Bradley's are who has taken my sister and our family in for these next long months ahead. I know many of you have wondered how all this came about and I finally have the answers! Before I was not quite sure myself but finally got the complete story from both sides! So here is the story of how this came to be! A college friend & fraternity brother of Jeff's, named Tyler, mother's best friend Diane has a sister, Laura Bradley, who lives in Mason, Ohio. Tyler and his wife are pregnant with twins as well and are due around the same time as Kristen's real due date in October. Tyler told his mother about Jeff and Kristen's situation and she then told her best friend Diane and then Diane told her sister Laura Bradley. After Laura heard about them she then knew she wanted to do something to help them because Mason is literally 20 minutes out of Cincinnati. So after talking with her husband and family they decided that they wanted Kristen, Jeff and AK to live with them whenever they needed during this whole process. So that is when Laura contacted my sister through facebook and invited them to stay, etc. So that is the story of how this all came about.

Last Monday was my sister's first appointment since they were back in Ohio and that is when they received the negative news. So after hearing everything and found out my brother-in-law was having to come back to Birmingham to get everything ready for him to go ahead permanently move as well I made the decision to go to Ohio. My father was in Oklahoma and decided to meet me in Louisville, Kentucky and then we would drive the remainder of the trip which is only an hour and a half. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and my sister was so happy and excited that we where there. The Bradley's were very welcoming to us and we are so happy that my sister, Jeff, and AK are staying with them. My Dad stayed until Friday and then headed back to Georgia and I stayed until Sunday. My sister had her doctor's appointments on that Thursday so my Dad and me went with her to them and we were so glad we got to go and it really did help us understand everything a lot better. As you all know I am very curious and need every single detail. I know when someone leaves out something and I have to have all the facts. We spent all day walking from one side of the hospitals to the other. We got to meet a few of the doctors that are working on the twins case. After all the appointments we had a meeting with the Pediatric Surgeon, Dr. Crumplehorn (?), crazy name huh! Haha. He is the director of Pediatric Surgery at Children's Hospital Cincinnati. He went over everything with us and explained the situation and gave us the latest game plan. Luckily, everything looked 110% better than it had on Monday so everyone was much more positive about the twins. Even though they do have to remind you of all the negative things that could happen which then brings you down again. But, my sister thankfully has decided to only focus on the positive side of everything and has made up her mind that everything and everyone will be perfectly fine when all of this is all over. It will be very stressful on everyone I know once they twins get here because so many things can happen to pre-mature babies but we know in our hearts that both babies and my sister will be safe and will make it through everything. The arrival of the twins are still up in the air for now and will most likely be that way until they come. My family all hopes we can plan it as much as possible so we can all get there in time for the delivery but we can't ask for everything to go our way. So what we are asking is to keep my sister and both babies safe and for everyone to be stable, healthy, and to be home as soon as possible. So overall my trip was great and it was very reassuring after I could see where my sister was staying and I could see for myself that she was fine. My sister and me have never been in different states for a long period of time and now that we are it is very hard for me. I never thought it would be as difficult as it has been on me so far but it is and it makes me nervous, anxious, mad, sad, and every other emotion you can think of. I am not usually an emotional person but here lately I have been about this whole situation that is for sure.

Ohio is very nice, friendly, and they love ICE CREAM and CHILI. Oh and the weather is a whole lot better than Alabama's this time of year. It was in the 80s and breezy everyday. That might sound hot but let me tell you it is not! I required a cardigan in the mornings and afternoons. CRAZY! We did sample out the ice cream on a few occasions but we never made it to the chili. But, my sister did try some chili spaghetti?!?!? and said it was awesome! The love chili there so much that they have a fast food restaurant called "Gold Star Chili". In Alabama you see a McDonald's on every corner, in Ohio there is a Gold Star Chili on every corner! I did someone eating something from there at the hospital and they has a chili dog and chili cheese fries! Now that's my kind of food! Not only do they have this Gold Star Chili but my sister and me saw two other places called blank chili. We were amazed. Kristen did ask why they have so many chili places and the Bradley's told her it was just there thing. So there you go! My next trip up there I will be sampling all the chili places and will get back to you on how it is! The other thing I did like about Ohio is that everything in the bathroom is so sanitary. It does not matter where you go every restroom we went through was nice, clean, and hands free operated! Every stall has toilet seat cover dispensers, all toilets are hands free, the soap dispensers and the paper towel machine are hands free. Now yes many places in Alabama do have these same things but most do not! My sister and me came to the conclusion that someone made it there priority to make sure the restrooms are nice and are made for germ-a-phobs like us because everywhere you go they are like this. So it must be a law or something but I like it!

The only down side to my trip was on Sunday when I spotted the plane I was flying on. I do not fly very often but the past few years I have flown have not gone very well. First off I have never ever flown alone. I conquered that last Tuesday and it was fine. I was a bit nervous and over cautious about making sure I was going the right direction and at the right place but it was fine. Secondly not only was I flying alone but I was frozen in shock once I got to my gate Sunday and spotted the plane. Yes, I know I was not flying out of huge airports but I was flying Delta and I had never seen a small Delta plane. I knew they have smaller planes for Southwest and going to Mexico or the Caribbean but all other times I have flown on a nice comfy plane. This plane was so small that we had to walk out our gate down some stairs and then walk to our plane. This plane was so small that you were not allowed to take your carry on with you because there was no room for it. I had to give my carry on to the attendant and they then stowed every one's carry on's under the plane!! This has never happened to me before. No one notified my this would be taking place. Luckily they did allow me to take my bag I was using as my purse with me on the plane. But, this plane was so small that you could not walk down the isle with you bag on your shoulder. You had to hold it out in front of and hope not to knock any one out. This plane was so small that there was no cart that came down this isle to offer you a cold beverage, because the isle was too small! The stewardess carried around a bottle of water and cups and asked you if you wanted a swig! I was terrified the entire flight which was not very long thank the lord! We thankfully made it safely and I had a lay over in Memphis, TN. So I was hoping that the plane would be a bit bigger but guess what, NOPE! The same size and procedures occurred on this flight as well. So I tried to be a bit calmer on this flight but it was very hard because I was more towards the back so I could hear everything so loudly that it was freaking me out. I know I scared the girl half to death next to me because every time something made a loud noise I about jumped out of my seat! I made it back to Birmingham in one piece and was very thankful to be back on the ground.

My sister is back at her appointments today and will find out everything late this afternoon. Jeff and AK are there with her at the Bradley's and they are having a blast. I know my sister will update her blog tonight before she goes to bed so check it out to see what the latest news is. Also if you want to know more details about her last appointment you can read her last post she posted.

The link to her blog is www.ohbaby2010.blogspot.com

So long for now.......