Ok, feel free to step away from your radio. I just found out that Word of Mouth’s program is getting bumped today by President Obama’s speech on the Supreme Court’s health care ruling! The interview will play tonight at 9:00 pm and be available online. The great news is they’re going to replay the interview again next week so their 100,000 listeners will hear it!
Im still keeping you in my pocket!!!
I have a radio interview tomorrow (Thursday, June 28th) at noon on NHPR’s program Word of Mouth with host Virginia Prescott.
You were kind enough to follow me to Texas. Any chance you’re up for a trip to The Big Apple?
My agent Dede got a call last week from a producer at Yahoo! (her name is Casey – wrong different spelling, but still, her name is Casey!) asking if I’d travel to NYC to interview for the new video segment of their website Shine, called, wait for it…The Shine! (about half-way down the page in the right-hand column you can see the videos. Mine should post in a couple of weeks – Gulp!)
Several rearranged orthodontist and eye doctor appointments later, I said yes, and the kids and I started packing our bags!
We drove down from New Hampshire to my brother’s house in Connecticut, had a little lunch, backyard playtime with the cousins, some self-tanner application on my legs from sister-in-law, Lollie,
Now that’s a good sister-in-law!
and I was ready to drive us into The City.
I sound so nonchalant, right? Drive us into The City.
Well…Note to self, When entering a New York City street address into the Nav system, please distinguish between East and West!
Whoops!
After my brother patiently stayed on the phone and guided us from the west side of NY to the East, we dropped off our bags and headed out to check out The City.
We ended up in Central Park, passing kids still in their school uniforms, outdoor exercise classes and lots and lots of little dogs on tiny leashes. We ended up at The Boathouse, all of us super hungry, but way underdressed for dinner. As evidence from the picture below, we threw caution to the wind and somehow the hostess was nice enough to seat us at a gorgeous table right next to the water. The kids wanted to order the $48 steaks but settled for the $12 cheeseburgers off the kid’s menu instead!
We weren’t exactly “dressed” for our impromptu dinner!
After feeding bread to the giant carp and biggest snapping turtles we’d ever seen, a leisurely stroll took us home to bed for a good night sleep before The Big Day.
Or not.
I couldn’t sleep.
I didn’t sleep.
At all!
All night, I tossed and turned, fretting about the interview, wondering how I’d gotten myself into this mess.
Thankfully, I did end up catching a few Zzzzzs between 7:00 and 8:00 am and interestingly, when I woke up, I wasn’t nervous at all. A really clear thought had passed through my head – You have the opportunity to speak for/to all preemie moms. Just go and do it!
At that same moment, poor Andie walked into the room saying, “Mom, I just got the worst nervous stomachache ever.”
Whoops. Thanks, Andie for carrying it for me!
Yahoo! was sending a car to pick us up at 9:45. The kids and I stood on the sidewalk, garment bag etc. in hand at 9:40, waiting. I’d already approached one fancy car only to be told, No, he hadn’t come to pick us up.
When the cream colored town car stopped next to the sidewalk, I stepped forward and the kids followed.
Leaning in I asked, “Did Yahoo! send you?”
“Yes,” he said, and we climbed in.
We were half-way down the block when I named the avenue where I thought we were headed (I only knew ’cause my brother had looked it up) and when he repeated back a different street name, my stomach lurched.
“Did they send you from Yahoo!?” I asked again, this time in a much more urgent, bordering on crazy, tone.
“No, but I take you,” he said.
Walking back down the block, trying not to drag my dress on the sidewalk, I could only shake my head. So much for my promise there’d be no “running with scissors” moments on this trip.
The “real” driver only laughed and told us we had to be more careful in NY and gave us a really fabulous car tour of Manhattan, starting in the 1600’s with the arrival of the Dutch, to the set of a movie scene and the studios of MTV.
Once we arrived at the tall building that housed the Yahoo! studios, I learned from our knowledgable driver, that the building was the scene of the last shot in the Bourne Supremacy (is that what the last one is called?) when Jason Bourne looks across the Manhattan skyline into the eyes of the agent who’d been hunting him throughout the movie. I was pretty pleased with myself that I actually knew what he was talking about!
But I wasn’t quite as pleased with myself when we walked into the granite-walled lobby, and I realized I had not a clue what floor we needed to head to. A quick text message, phone call and email later, we were on the elevator with a sweet summer intern. She took us to the green room where the kids plopped on the couches, armed with an iPad and an iPhone to keep them entertained. I was wisked away to Hair and Makeup.
Hair and Makeup!
I only wore mascara and lip gloss on my wedding day!
The makeup and hair artists assured me they really could work with my straw-like hair (my term not their’s) and freckled face. I decided to sit back and enjoy it.
“My mom would be so happy right now,” I told them and they both laughed.
Hair and Makeup! What????
As ready as I’ll ever be
Once they were done with hair and makeup, I kissed each kiddo and was led into an overly air conditioned studio.
“I’m glad it’s so cold,” I said to any one of the ten or so people in the room. “I’m a little nervous.”
To which they all nodded and smiled and assured me I’d “do great.”
Once seated on the canary-yellow couch, I crossed my legs at the ankles to hide the swollen bruise from the Father’s Day Mother/Daughter soccer game.
“I tend to talk a lot with my hands,” I announced to the cameramen, producers, make-up artists and wardrobe fitter.
“Just be yourself,” someone called out.
Be careful what you wish for, I thought!
Before I knew it, one of those black and white markers was held up between the host and me and someone said, “And, 3, 2, 1…”
“Imagine giving birth to a baby half way through your pregnancy…” the host, Alesha Renee said into the camera, before turning to me.
In the past, in times of great anxiety, my usual response is to become completely untethered and float right out of my body. But as I discovered when I spoke at the conference in Texas, I can’t do that with a room full of people waiting to hear what I have to say. Instead, it seems that rather than going outside, I go to some deep internal place, a place where I’m able to dial in and focus to a degree of which I didn’t know I was capable, and stay present to the situation at hand. Which is really fantastic and pretty surprising. The problem is, when it’s all over, I don’t remember a thing. A few little bits and pieces come back, but for the most part, it’s all a vague memory.
I do remember showing Alesha one of Andie’s tiny newborn diapers, and I remember talking about life in the NICU and watching my hands make the motion of a roller coaster before I could get them folded back in my lap. And I remember a really good-looking, soft-spoken producer squatting down in front of us, telling us we were doing well and my mind rewinding eleven years prior to Lee squatting down in front of my wheelchair assuring me that I could go to the NICU to see Andie and that I was a good mother.
Beyond that, nada.
I guess we’ll all just have to wait for the video to find out the rest!
Andie said I looked “young” with the makeup. Not next to gorgeous, Alesha, who by the way, was a total sweetheart and made me feel so comfortable!
So glad I had the kids by my side!
After the interview, I changed into shorts and a t-shirt (with all my make-up still on!) and we were ready to play!
Off to Central Park Zoo, where we learned that Andie weighed just a few ounces more than a polar bear at birth!
Newborn polar bears weigh just a pound!
And then we finished the whole day off with “the coolest ice cream cones ever!”
Yahooooo!
Thanks again for coming along for the ride!
Back in May, you loyally followed me through my Texas escapades, Day 1,Day 2 and Day 3, now you can see for yourself how it all turned out!
Click HERE to watch an edited version of my talk from the National Association of Neonatal Therapists Conference!! (Note to self – Stop talking so much with your hands – Yikes!)
A little more exciting Preemie news to share, I’ve been asked to interview for a segment on Yahoo’s program The Shine! The kids and I are making a vacation out of it, heading to NYC tomorrow. I’m nervous about being on camera and hope it all goes well. A car is picking us up on Tuesday am to take us to the studio for hair and makeup!! Double Yikes! I know what you’re thinking – Avoid smoothies at all costs! Believe me, I already thought of that!
I was hoping to have tanned legs before filming the segment, now I’m just hoping the bruises from this year’s Mother/Daughter Soccer Game heal in time!
To read about last year’s game and see our team picture, click HERE!
Here a picture of this year’s squad!
Those fast and feisty girls won 2-1!
Happy Father’s Day, Leebo!
Jenny Hansen’s blog More Cowbell is featuring lots of information and great articles on prematurity. Be sure to check it out!
More Cowbell – Risky Baby Business
Thanks, Jenny!
Today I have the honor of posting on the blog of Rosemary DiBattista. The title across the top of Rosemary’s blog tells you all you need to know – “Romantic Comedy Inspired by Food, Love, Shakespeare and the Shore.” How fun is that?
Rosemary is an English teacher by day and a novelist by night. She is the author of a non-fiction book for teens and numerous education articles. Her debut novel, a contemporary update of The Taming of the Shrew, is currently out on submission, and her first book in her cozy mystery series, Murder Marinara, will be published by NAL/Penguin in early 2014!
Rosemary lives in New Jersey with her husband, two of her three sons, and a fox terrier she describes as “ill-behaved!” Her youngest boy is graduating from High School as we speak.
Participating in Rosemary’s Authors in the Kitchen series was a ball and I sure hope you’ll check it out! Click right here to head on over and be sure to say hi in the comment section and check out some of Rosemary’s other posts!
Happy Friday!
Big News!!
Random House chose to feature an interview about Preemie on their website Biographile.com. I am so honored!
I’m truly pinching myself and wondering how we could have gone from such an uncertain future last fall (remember the Smoothie Explosion?) to Random House’s website.
It truly was a blast and I wish each and everyone of you could have been there!
Many funny moments to share, beginning with the party set-up at 4:00 in the afternoon and my dad walking through the back door of the bookshop with a case of Corona in his arms.
“Kasey, where do you want the bar set up?” he shouted across the store. I smiled at the book browsers who turned my way and knew we were in for an interesting evening.
My aunt Harriet and I filled a big blue tub with ice and beer. She pointed at the sign marking the Young Adult section where we setting up the bar. “Where’d you get the beer, Jimmy?” she said. “Oh they’re given’ ’em out at the bookstore,” Harriet said, answering her own question. I doubled over the tub of beer laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face. When we saw my dad heading our way with a case of wine, we started laughing even harder!
My aunt Harriet, who we call Hats.
Just a half hour before the party began the skies grew ominously dark. The bookstore phone began ringing and reports of hail storms, tornado warning and severe thunderstorms were being reported. Sadly, several friends were forced to turn back.
But so many others made it, including my agent Dede, who was covered in poison ivy! She looks good, doesn’t she? Suzanne Kingsbury came. Suzanne and I worked together on my manuscript for half a year, as she gently guided me deeper and deeper into my story, coaxing me to open up and share more than I ever thought possible. And Libby Barnett, my Reiki master was there, too. Andie was almost 7 years old when I finally found deep healing on Libby’s Reiki table and began the journey of writing this book.
Dede Cummings, Suzanne Kingsbury and Libby Barnett
I have no idea what we’re looking at!
Our peruvian friend and Chef extraordinaire, Jorge made an incredible seafood paella in his four foot pan. He had to set up out on the sidewalk outside the store because the shop wouldn’t allow open flame inside. Glad someone was thinking!
He even offered a little song!
Andie and her best pal, Helen were both there, passing hor d’oeuvres and browsing the bookstore shelves.
“Mom, I was asked to sign 10 of your books,” Andie told me the next morning. “Helen signed them. too.”
“Helen signed the books?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Andie answered. “She wrote, Helen, aka Andie’s BFF.”
Ha!
Lee’s Mom and Dad were there, too. And my sister-in-law, Lizzie showed up as a big surprise!
Andie passing hor dourves
My parents were there!
Mom, my friend, Crick and me.
My sister came down from Vermont. (She’s the one who took all these photos and fortunately someone snapped one of her.)
My sister, Libbie and my dear friend Laura.
As you can see, we ate and drank, but at one point we did actually set our drinks down, and I read a few passages from the book.
Lee introduced me and just thinking about what he said makes me start crying all over again. He said how proud he was of me and spoke of my focus and perseverance, and he thanked everyone for there undying support and said that the party was to celebrate them. He also broke the news that although many of our parties in the past have ended in an impromptu sleepover, the bookstore wasn’t allowing overnight guests!
I struggled to decide what parts of the book I wanted to read. There were so many people there who had played such a major role in our story and I really wanted to read the scenes they were in. As the day wore on, I became increasingly anxious at my lack of decision and fell into a grumbling fit of Why did I even write this stupid book. And with that, I remembered the words Lee’d been whispering in my ear for several years. Go back to the why. Why you wrote the book.
And I did.
And then I knew exactly which parts to read.
I read the preface – my Why.
“I’d like to sit on the end of your bed and share my story with you. Your story and mine are sure to be different, but if hearing my story allows you a moment away from yours, if it leaves you with a sense of hope, then this story was worth writing down.”
Because Tucker was away on his class trip, I read the beautiful wishbone letter he’d written several years before and spoke of his importance in the story.
Reading Tuck’s wishbone letter, sad he wasn’t there.
I read the section of the book when we named Andie.
“We both knew a name made this baby real. I moved my mouth but couldn’t speak. I wasn’t sure if we’d really agreed on a name. Lee picked up my hand, and I watched as first his eyes, then his whole face, took on an expression of certainty. In a proud voice, he announced, “Her name is Anne. Anne Daniel, and we’ll call her Andie.”
I was doing fine until I looked up and caught a glimpse of Lee. His cheeks were soaked in tears and I had to step away from the microphone to catch my breath.
I read from the epilogue, and yeah, I was giving away the ending, but the ending was sitting right there in the front row dying of embarrassment.
“Andie wears skinny jeans now, makes up dances behind her closed bedroom door, has contact lenses, and won’t wear skirts to school because she complains that she can’t run as fast as the boys…”
That’s my dad in the pink sweater.
Helen, a friend indeed!
And finally I introduced my dear friend, Enid who wrote the most beautiful song in the world for Andie and the book. It’s called The Power of Intention (you’ll hear much more about the song in future posts.) and she sang it for the first time in public that night. I can’t wait for all of you to hear it. Soon, I promise!
Enid Ames – http://www.enidames.com/
And then we ate cake!
How cute is that cake?
It was an incredible evening up until the very last moment when the cars were packed, we’d taken out all the trash and the bookstore was back to the way we’d found it.
Almost.
“Don’t forget your little girl,” one of the bookstore employees called out from the front.
And there we found Andie curled up on a couch in the front of the store, immersed in her new book.
“Hey, Kase, there’s your next book,” my aunt Hats said.
And with that, we all walked out into the night full of laughter and the knowledge that Preemie was off to a wonderful start!
If you’d like to purchase your own copy of Preemie, click here or visit Barnes and Noble or better yet, visit your local independent bookstore.
It’s finally here! The day Preemie makes her way out into the world! In many ways, Preemie feels like a third child. Our first born arrived on his due date, our second came a wee bit early (!!) and this third baby… well it kind of feels like a scheduled c-section! All weekend I’ve been cleaning bookshelves and the back corners of closets and file drawers, trying to get everything just perfect! And now the day is here. And, as with everything else in life, it will be perfect in it’s own imperfect way!
We’re having a book launch bash tonight – so if you’re anywhere nearToadstool Bookshop in Milford, NH, please join us! I follow up with photos so even if you’re not there, you’ll feel a bit like you were!
It feels a little strange to celebrate the arrival of this new baby (book) because my first born, Tuck, just left this am for a week long trip to Quebec City with his 7th grade class. I want my boy here. With me. I always do. But he’s with all his friends and I have to trust that he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.
Perfect.
Thinking of him, reminded me of this beautiful note he wrote to me three years ago when the future of Preemie was so uncertain.
It’s small and hard to read on the blue paper, so here is what it says:
Hi mom! I hope you are having a good time here in Bradford, because I am. I hope your book gets published. A lot of people like your book so I think it is going to be great. Did you know I am making a comic. Maby I can send you a comic strip. Gess what I wished that your book would get published and I won with the wish bone. Love your son Tucker.
And there at the bottom of the page is his piece of the wish bone, attached with masking tape.
His wish, and mine, came true.
So, without further ado, please join me in welcoming this new baby into the world!
My dear high school friend Renee has a phenomenal blog and posted an interview she did with me, asking lots of really insightful questions! Check it out, leave a comment ’cause she’s giving a book away, and be sure to start following her blog!
And thanks. You’ve all held my hand for so long.
I’m utterly grateful.
Mother’s Day will soon be here – a time to celebrate and honor mothers and motherhood – a time to reflect on the influence our mothers (or a significant maternal figure) had in our lives. And hopefully, a time where we, as moms are encouraged to relax and enjoy a little pampering.
For moms with a baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Mother’s Day can be bitter sweet. No woman plans or expects to begin her journey as a mom this way! But for more than 500,000 moms each year, their baby arrives too soon and too small, and must be whisked away to be cared for in a NICU.
I wrestled with my role as a mom for many months following the preterm birth of my son at 24 weeks gestation. (Read my full story with before and after photos.) I felt more like a bystander than his mother because I was unable to hold him, feed him or participate in his complicated medical care. I was ashamed because I found the first photos of him to be terrifying and disconcerting. I was plagued with guilt for “failing” to carry him to term. I desperately just wanted to start over. I was not sure I could handle being the mom of such a medically fragile child.
For years I kept these feelings of guilt and shame to myself. What kind of mother would people think I was if I admitted that I did not feel an immediate bond with my own baby? It was not until I read the transcript for the new book entitled, Preemie: Lessons in Love, Life and Motherhood, written by preemie mom, Kasey Mathews, that I fully accepted the emotions I felt after Jackson’s early birth and understood that they were normal. With each page of the book I found myself shaking my head in understanding and wiping away tears of gratitude for the courage of the author to allow herself to be so vulnerable and voice her darkest secrets…
To read the rest of Kelli’s article, click here
8 days until Preemie’s release date! Thanks to all for your ongoing support!
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