Noemi Photography

Last week we had a scare with our youngest baby (almost 2)…we spent 3 days at the PICU at the Minneapolis Children’s Hospital. We’re home now and laying low for the week.

I was reflecting on everything that happened and how it effected me. I started to write and this is what came out.

Everyone is asking, “How are you really doing?”
My tiredness is slowly fading
My emotions aren’t ruling
And my thoughts are turning
Towards thankfulness.

In the midst of shaking i felt nothing,
Afterwards I’m still moving,
I keep going back re-living,
Stop second guessing,
And starting to listen.

I needed you more than anything
In the midst of pain I was floating
On the prayers of those caring
My burdens you were carrying
So I could rest and hope.

You were there in the shaking,
And now, I’m still standing,
My heart you were holding,
Keeping me, trusting
The one who held me through it all…is the one that holds tomorrow.

We had a crisis this week. I was giving updates on Facebook but decided for your benefit (and mine) I’d write out what happened.

This week started like any other Sunday included church, home and rest. Clara was warm when she went to sleep but, that wasn’t cause for alarm. Monday she woke up with a cough, the kind that doesn’t do anything but annoy, and she coughed all day. Monday night I put her down and every 30 minutes or so she’d wake up coughing, crying herself awake and breathing weird – very unusual. I did all I knew to do…put a mist machine in her room, did a neb treatment with last year’s leftover Albutiral and gave her Tylenol for her fever. She seemed to settle. When Matt came home he checked on her and he didn’t like the way she was breathing so he slept with her. At 5am I took over and he got some sleep. I did another neb and decided we needed to go into the Dr. that morning. We got in at 11am, he checked her oxygen and found out she was low (85 instead of high 90′s) and he gave her adrenaline mist and her levels came back up. She had a fever of 101 and tested positive for RSV. He explained what the virus was and sent us home saying most cases they get better on their own but if she sounds “worse or different” to come back that afternoon. Now I was sooo annoyed by that…what does worse sound like? And what is different? How am I supposed to know her oxygen levels at home? Very frustrating.

When she got up from her nap she was whimpering with every breath…that was different enough for me. She fell asleep on the way to the Dr. and I was scared…if knew something wasn’t right. We got into the office and they tested her oxygen levels and they were back down to 85, they did the same adrenaline treatment and she didn’t improve so the Doc suggested admitting her to St. Francis. He made it sound like it was just a precaution so I wouldn’t have to keep guessing through out the night cause kids usually are worse at night. So I agreed.

We got settled into our room and the Respiratory Therapist came in looked at her for 3 minutes and said, “she should be at Children’s Hospital.” Matt and I looked at each other and I thought, “That’s a bit over the top!” But, after trying two different types of oxygen masks and neither bringing her levels to normal they ordered an ambulance to take us to Children’s. At this point, I’m just trying to keep up. You have to remember that morning I think my daughter has a cold Tuesday night I’m riding in an ambulance to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at one of the best children’s hospitals in the country…it’s a bit of a leap right?

Clara was limp, white and breathing hard the whole way there. I kept re-playing the doctor’s last words in my head, “She’s working really hard and at some point she’s going to stop working.” Not possible. She’s MY baby. Needless to say, I was praying, crying and praying some more. I reached out to friends and family through Facebook…asking people to join with us. It was so encouraging to read everyone’s comments. I’d talk to the doctor, text the update, and read about people praying. Amazing! Matt and I knew we’re weren’t alone.

When we got to Children’s 5 doctors and nurses were waiting for us…not a good sign. We had x-rays and blood drawn immediately and everything looked very bad but not awful. The lead doctor came to talk to Matt and I to tell that if she got any worse she would need a breathing tube and she would have to be sedated. I didn’t understand want that meant until later…he was talking about putting her into a coma so they could regulate her breathing. Now, things are getting very serious and still all we could do was pray and wait. All night she woke up in a panic from the strange room and tubes attached to every limb. She hated the oxygen mask and kept pulling at it. I slept in the same bed with her and cried. I felt that feeling…the one where I want to take her pain on myself so my precious baby wouldn’t hurt anymore. But, I was powerless, all I could do was pray.

Wednesday she improved so much that they downgraded (or upgraded depending on how you look at it) us to a ICU room down the hall. She wasn’t critical anymore. AND they had started weaning her off the oxygen. Still not eating or drinking or sleeping…she wasn’t a happy camper. At the end of the day they let her have liquids and I was so relieved to see her doing something “normal.” That night Matt came and I went home. I hadn’t slept since the whole thing began and I was emotionally spent. She needed her daddy and I needed to go home and hug my other babies.

Thursday morning I came back and she started to get mad which medically speaking is wonderful but emotionally is so hard on me. They wanted her to scream and cry because she has loosen everything in her chest but I wanted to comfort her. AND I wanted to do was walk up and down the halls explaining what the doctors said to all the other parents taking care of sick kids listening to my almost 2 year old scream bloody murder! Plus, she would have a full on temper tantrum and pull at every cord attached to her body. It was awful. She was better but not well enough to take the tubes off. Eventually she calmed down and slept. I kept asking them to turn down the oxygen knowing that if she could prove she didn’t need it we could go home sooner. She did went without oxygen for most of the day…and then into the night. People were praying and so was I.


At 4am the nurse came in to check on her and because she’d been off oxygen for so long I asked about removing the tubes. It was a wonderful moment to see my babies face again.

Friday morning I saw the doctor and he signed our release.
They said it would 5-7 days…we were out in 3.
Prayer works.

The last image is Clara playing the Doctor…waiting for Daddy to drive through the show storm and come get us.

At home Friday night she slept 13 hours straight and today she took two 2 hour naps. She is on the mend and being home is the best thing for her.

We’re laying low for the next week so we don’t spread this nasty bug. I don’t mind. This will be a week of resting, cuddling, and thanking the Lord for all my blessings.

I know there are mom’s who have suffered worse and my heart goes out to each one. It is truly painful to watch your child in pain. I was so thankful for the network of friends and family all over the world who stopped for a minute and prayed for Clara. What a gift.

This is our story. Thank you for reading…blogging is therapy for me. Someday Clara can scroll back and read about her trip to Children’s Hospital!

I’ve been thinking a ton about this year. I love being a Wedding Photographer so it takes no effort to have vision for the upcoming year. So…I’m dreaming. Planning. Thinking…long and hard about my life. What it is now and what I want it to be.

And even though I know it’s very important in the world’s standards to be “busy” and “success” means making more money every year…I find myself thinking differently. Weird right? I’m a fairly driven business minded person so this is a surprise to me to.

I find myself saying, “slow down” and I’m enjoying my day more because I did.

I found this cool video from one of my photographer heros DANE SANDERS. Have a look and tell my what you think.

I know I am and always will be a photographer. It’s what I do and it’s a part of me…but, there are so many other things in this life that are important to me. Maybe this year is about slowing down in some ways so that I can focus on other things. My kids are almost 7, 4 and 2. They are changing so fast and I don’t want to miss it. They need me. Hmmmm. So much to think about.

This won’t be easy for me cause I’m kinda a people-pleasing girl. But, as I look at the calendar filling up I’m wanting to slow down and think things through before it becomes too full and this is another year that flies by in business.

This isn’t a normal blog post for a Wedding Photography during booking season but, I’m not your normal photographer. I pour my heart into everything I do. I’m honest and straight forward. My blog has always been about sharing my heart. I’m not changing anything dramatically but I will be tweaking things so I have boundaries on how much I take on. (It’s sound advice I’d give to someone else but, rarely take seriously myself!)

I’ll keep you posted.

Merry Christmas! Looking back on 2011, we know that we are blessed. God has been so good to us, and we cannot speak enough of his love, his faithfulness, his mercy, and his kindness. At this time of year, we pause to reflect on the greatest expression of his love and kindness that the world has ever seen. Our Heavenly Father sent His Only Son Jesus Christ into the world – to come as a man, to take on flesh, to live a sinless life, and to lay down that life to pay the penalty for our sins. In the Book of John, we read of Jesus when it says, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world… to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” For the Hedrick family, 2011 has been a year of seen more and more of the glory of Jesus Christ.

Here are some of the highlights from this past year:

2011 was a wonderful year for Matt. He is going into his tenth year as Bethany Church’s Senior Pastor. The congregation at Bethany Church has seen a tremendous amount of growth and maturity this year, and Matt is so honored to work with the men and women that he does on the church staff. In addition to his leadership role at the church, he continues to serve on the Board of Directors for a couple of ministries in the Twin Cities area (Transform Minnesota and World Relief Minnesota.) A planned ministry trip to Kenya in the fall of 2011 was delayed to early 2012 because of some of the unrest that has been occurring in that region of the world. In addition to his ministry life, Matt kept busy working on and finishing the basement at our home and also enjoyed his annual trip to the Boundary Waters with some friends from church.
Noemi is learning more about herself and what it means to be a mom and wife all the time. She continues volunteering at Adriah’s school, serves on the church worship team, and leads a Mom’s small group. This year she’s started to attend a BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) group and has loved studying the Book of Acts. It’s been 8 years of developing her photography business, and she loves continuing to learn and has started teaching two different types of Photography Workshops. After a busy season she’s ready to slow the pace heading into winter, allowing more time for family and friends. All of her roles fill her heart to full…
Adriah Liberty is now 6 ½ and almost 4 ½ feet tall! She’s thriving as a first grader at Aspen Academy. She is excelling at reading, math and music! She loves reading chapter books, playing IPAD games, memorizing her Bible verses for Awana, and performing for us on the piano (she’s been taking lessons for almost a year!) She just lost her first tooth and the second one is not far behind. And we are pleased to share that Adriah made a HUGE step in her faith this year! She was publicly baptized in front of her church family. We are so proud of our firstborn! She is our little-love!
Leyton O’Neal is 3 ½ and loves everything with wheels! Trucks and Lego are a big part of his daily play routine. He and Clara are becoming so close and are learning to share their days together while Adriah is in school all day. He continues to amaze us with his happy-go-lucky ways. He loves to laugh and make others laugh…his jokes are actually funny now. He’s been working on potty-training – and hopefully, it will be “mastered” soon. He loves going to BSF with Mom and calls it “his school!” He’s learning hymns, scripture and bible stories. He’s still daddy’s boy and wrestling has become a normal activity in our home! He will start preschool in the fall…but we’re not in any hurry to see him go to school. He is our joy!
Clara Isabel is almost 2! She is talking up a storm. She didn’t walk until she was 18 months… so perhaps she was thinking of all of those words while she sat! She goes back and forth from being “spicy” and being “snuggly.” She really takes the cake on both extremes! We love her “rock-star” hair, her belly laugh, and her willingness to jump right in with the rest of the family. After talking with Adriah about the fact that she was our “Love” and Leyton was our “Joy,” she made the comment that Clara should be our “Peace.” Although we are still getting to know her and learning who she is, we believe that might be a great description of who this precious gift is. We delight in her.

Our children truly are our gift from God! We see Him in them, and we see Him moving in us as we parent them! We enter 2012 knowing that the Lord is faithful to provide for all of our needs…we are rich in Christ Jesus. This year is about pursuing him individually and as a family! We’re thankful for Bethany Church, Awana, and BSF to help give structure to our hearts intent.

Please pray that we will hear the Lord’s voice and will move in whatever direction He leads us. We love you and are blessed to have you in our lives. Blessings from our home to yours – Matt, Noemi, Adriah, Leyton and Clara!