Getty Owl Foundation

Getty’s Birth Story, Military Style!

From Kate:

Technically a little over three years ago I was pretty much as big as a cow. Getty was “supposed” to grace us with her presence on March 14th, 2010. I remember the doctor telling me, “you know due dates are not always accurate.” Looking back on March 14th, then 15th then, 16th, etc. I started to get the point. Her room was all ready to go, right down to the last detail.

My original plan was to start maternity leave from teaching the week of and then come back after the 6 weeks were up. Mark and I had it “all planned out”. (If you don’t like my “quotations  ” I do apologize, but since this is my way to emphasize to myself how incredibly stupid I was to “suppose” anything in life, I will continue to use them :)) Once we got to March 16th I had an appointment with my doctor to see how far along I was. 3 cm dilated. Well yahoo, it is only a matter of time now. I thought maybe I should just stop work now? I mean she is coming any day, minute now, right?

The days continued to pass and that 3 cm seemed to not really care that I was ready to have Getty. Nope it just resisted and was stubborn to hand over the responsibility to 4 cm. By March 19th I had declared that I would just continue to work until I needed to not. My “plan” was not working out and so when I get frustrated I just do what I know best. Push on and move forward. What I really continued to do is literally waddle for the next 4 or so days teaching my lessons. Getting my AP US History kids prepped for their big test in May. I hated leaving them so soon, so to feel better, I stuffed their heads with the remaining information to then let them digest it until test day. It is amazing what you can do when you have no time but have a passion for overwhelming a classroom of eager teenagers. We went through the Civil Rights movement in two days. Martin Luther King Jr., if I had to guess, would be pretty upset with me. I am sure he never intended for a teacher to Clif Note all of his accomplishments so quickly. Disability, LGBT, Women, Labor, and many other minority rights were all lectured on as a swift pace, but I felt they need the essence of each to really understand the civil rights movement. 1970’s, 1980’s, into Clinton’s first term in office. Lots of info and no time to teach it.

The kids had become accustomed to my pregnant moments. While in lecture I would get caught on a word. I would literally blank and could not remember the word. The kids were so sweet and they would say, “what does the word start with?” I would answer, “d”. Then a student would ask me to describe it. “It is like when you feel hopeless.” And almost in unison, they would say, “despair”. Then I would say “Ah yes, despair  thank you kiddos.” Then move on with the lecture.

This happened all the time andwith the most general of words. That is what made it so funny to me and to the kids. 🙂

By Tuesday, March 23rd, our doctor gave us the option of coming in to be induced the next morning or remaining at home to let, “nature do its thing.” We opted to get Getty out!

I said a final goodbye to the kids and staff at school as I was ready to become a mommy. The next step in my life. I was coming back of course, but for now I was off to give birth to a little girl already named, Getty Emelia Storm. Or what the kids had grown accustomed to calling her, Super Storm. 🙂

Getty’s movement was in overdrive and I was retaining water like the Michelin Man, if he was full of water, not air. No sleeping position was comfortable, nothing sounded good to eat, I lost sight of my feet and thought I had lost them forever by week 25. I was ready for pregnancy to be over, honestly.

The induction process started on March 24th around 7am to no avail. Nope, Getty did not want to come out at all. All vitals were great for both her and I. I wasn’t dilating any larger than 4 cm. So either I got a bad batch of “inducing medicine” or she simply wasn’t  ready.

My phone was making tons of noise all day. Everyone wanted to see Getty. My response was, “nothing yet”. I ate a lot of jello and juice. Nurses and midwife’s went on and off their shirts. Random floor doctors would come in and measure her and they thought for sure she would be around 6+ pounds.

By 12am March 25th my water broke on its own. In my mind I thought, “okay this is good, now it is only a matter of time.” I love how looking back on this experience makes me giggle, because I really had no idea what I was talking about. As I write this I am giggling and shaking my head at the same time. It is also making me think about our family history. Nothing has come easy for a person with our last name Mathany. Nothing has been easy, nothing has been handed to us, nothing seems to go as planned, but we survive. And here I am once again proving our last name to be true.

Contractions began around 3am. They hurt, but on the hurt scale I would say is was about a 4? The midwife asked if I wanted an epidural and I said no. I told myself that when it got to like a hurt #7 then we would just go for it. So I continued to lay down and I actually fell asleep.

Something happened between 3am and 7am. While I was asleep my contractions, pretty much went from a 4 to a 10! In the very least I could have had some warning. 🙂 So by 7am I was not asking the nurse, I was telling her to get the midwife, I was ready for the epidural.

What I did not know was that there was a protocol for getting an epidural. An order had to be written, the epidural guy needed to be found and put on my epidural schedule, he needed to come down with his “stuff”, and then, and only then would he be able to administer the goods.

While in the time I was professing I was a 10! and that I needed the epidural. It was a good hour until I actually got the shot. Again looking back, not to self, ask for it before you need it. 🙂 Noted.

By 9ish on March 25th things were feeling a lot better. I had already forgotten about the pain. What pain? My phone was still going off, wondering where Miss Getty was. I stopped answering the phone in certain situations.  Not to add drama or worry anyone, but she simply was not here and I was tired of telling them the usual line of , “not yet :)”.

By 4pm, my midwife thought that I should just push for the sake of pushing. “let’s see what happens” she exclaimed. Pushing was in full force. I gave it the old college try with no success. “well you did a good job, Getty just isn’t ready that is all.” she said as she removed her gloves, “let’s try again in about two hours, you get some sleep.” And so I did until about 5:30pm.

A new midwife came in and introduced herself. She was a retired Marine nurse and she was such a blessing. I felt an instant connection to her in many respects. It was almost like I knew, “this is the lady is going to help me get Getty out, even if she has to yell or command  her to come out. ” 🙂

I did not want to have a c-section. No real reason honestly. I think at this point it was more of a pride issue. I had been here for so long, I was in it for the long haul and dang-it, Getty was coming out the way I “planned” it. Of course if there was any harm of any kind to be had at any point in my pregnancy I would have done what was best for Getty. But at this point, all of her vitals were great and so we continued with the natural version.

Pushing started promptly at 1800, is what Midwife Jane called it. Man at this point, I don’t care what time she called it, I was in her military hands and I knew she was ready to help and complete this mission. So I pushed, and pushed, and pushed, etc. Getty was moving in the right direction, thankfully. The pushing continued until about 8pm, sorry, I mean 2000. At that point she said, “if she does not come out in the next 20 minutes we have to take you down and get her out the other way.” Our eyes gazed into each others. She had this look on her face as if to say, ‘dammit, not on my watch, this baby is coming out, Kate are you with me?”

I pushed like I had never pushed before. I was so in tune with the contractions that the nurses nor the midwife had to tell me when to push. I mean at that point, they could have just stood back and waited for Getty to come out.

At 8:16pm on March 25th our sweet Miss Getty Emelia Storm was born. She was gorgeous, she was 8.9 lbs, and she was finally here. So worth the wait.

I thanked the midwife for her encouragement and coaching abilities.  Honestly I thought if I didn’t get her out, she was going to take me out back and beat me once I was up to it. 🙂

Giving birth come in all shapes and sizes. This was our story. This is Getty’s story of how she joined our family. This was probably the most peaceful I have ever felt in my life. I was a mommy.

Getty’s 3rd Birthday is coming very soon. With every single day, month, and year she graces us with her beautiful eyes, her wonderful sense of humor, and her ever present grace, we are blessed.

So many milestones have been witnessed and with tons of hope and love, many more milestones still to come.

I love you sweet owl. You are my heart and the air I breathe.

Spring Forward!

From Mark:

Winter fades away, trees fill, flowers bloom, and the air warms. It is time to emerge from hibernation. In our case, hibernation doesn’t mean a long peaceful dormancy; it means LOCKDOWN! All the work needs to be done and care provided, but Getty & Kate are stuck indoors all winter to avoid getting a sick little girl. If Getty catches a cold, we’re looking at a minimum of 10 days of intensive respiratory treatments around the clock, every 2 to 4 hours without fail. It’s better for us to go stir crazy for a few months than to put Getty at risk.

Then the sun comes out, RSV season tapers off, and we spring forward doing the things we couldn’t do before. This was a perfect weekend for it!

Saturday, we invited Battalion Chief Becky of the West Sacramento Fire Department into our home to visit Getty, look at Getty’s setup and array of medical equipment, discuss Spinal Muscular Atrophy protocols, and devise a basic emergency plan for Getty’s care. It was a great visit! They flagged our address for special emergency dispatch, assured us that first responders would FOLLOW OUR LEAD when administering care, and discussed future meetings along the same lines with ALL the city Battalion Chiefs and the ambulance company supervisor. We will also discuss transferring advance knowledge of SMA to the first responders themselves.

Kate couldn’t attend this meeting because she was taking an opportunity to get out of the house for once. To be more precise, she accidentally gouged the side of her wrist with a big knife and had to get stitches. So, it wasn’t exactly respite time for her.

Sunday, we all got out together! The weather was perfect, and we took a nice drive in the countryside to Winters, California, an old agricultural town with a well preserved Main Street and railroad bridge over Putah Creek, once a rail line from Vacaville. We had just enough time for a great lunch at Preserve Public House and a stroll over the old bridge. Getty was delighted at blowing bubbles on the old bridge, soaking in the sun, and looking at the creek below.

Exploring California has long been one of my favorite things to do. Kate has been nice enough to humor me over the years in this area, especially in one trip where we took a bumpy dirt logging road all the way over the Trinity Alps just because I thought it would be fun. Hopefully, Getty will enjoy the fresh air and seeing new places and things … but we’ll stick to paved highways these days.

It Was A Beautiful Day!

From Kate:

I can’t help but quote U2:

“It was a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
Beautiful day”

Our 2nd Annual Getty Owl Run/Walk was a beautiful experience. For so many reasons. Here is how the run started and the moment when my heart skipped a beat.

What an amazing way to start to a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, albeit cold, but clear skies as far as the eye could see. Since Getty Owl Foundation’s beginning almost two years ago, the support has been overwhelming. At times, too overwhelming for this mom. People are just so kind and generous. It shoots to another level when people personally come up to us and want to introduce themselves and offer their individual support for our foundation and our family. That is a priceless emotional gift that I simply cannot explain.

There are so many amazing races in the Sacramento area. Some that do incredible things for area non-profits like ours. We have been humbled beyond belief to now have had two very successful years to our resume. We increased in attendance and we increased our overall funds raised. This year I am proud to say on behalf of our entire  board, we raised over $30,000. Speechless would be putting it lightly.

This money will give us the ability to grant more funds for research and it will give us more opportunities to help fund much needed equipment for SMA families.

I would like to thank all the companies, family, and friends that help make our second year not only successful but memorable. You all have given us a chance to become and sustain as race and perhaps the right to remain an annual race in a very competitive market of races.

With special thanks to:

Raley’s Supermarkets                       

California Family Fitness          

The Honey Agency                            

Fleet Feet Sports Roseville           

92.1 K-Hits                    

We would also like to thank:

UC Davis Health System

Geddes Photography

Dandelion & Sacramento Parents Magazine

Sacramento River Cats

Downtown Grid

Sports Authority

Active 20/30

Clif Bar

Go Girl

The Couch Sports Lounge

Health & FItness Magazine

Yelp

 Timmons, Owen & Owen, Inc   Udderly Smooth

Sacramento News & Review

Atlas Disposal

Nugget Market

Zen Martial Arts Center

Childtime Learning Centers

Road ID

Joe’s Crab Shack

We would like to thank all of the vendors and volunteers that helped to make the run a success.

We would also like to thank Kellie and Rich at Capital Road Race Management and Julie at Norcal Ultras for being great companies to work with. Thank you all for being great supports and people to work with.

Getty Owl Foundation is and will always be an all volunteer non-profit. I have asked so much of our board of directors. All of whom have beautiful families and friends that they have had to be away from for many hours to help make the Getty Owl Run/Walk a success. I would like to thank my husband Mark, Stacey, Takoa, and Sarita for working so hard and giving of your precious time to not only this event, but to our foundation. Big thanks to our friends Chrissy, Anna, Shannon, Eileen, Patti, and my mama for always being there for us to help.

There is one component of this story that made this day such a memorable one. Our family got tho share it with other SMA families. Mark and I would like to thank the Calafiores, Strongs, Scanlons, Phelps, Nana Teri for coming and supporting us. It is very easy to be isolated with an SMA diagnosis. So many months are spent inside the house in fear of germs and sickness. Even though we all communicate via email or phone, there is something about getting a chance to hug and be together in one place at the same time, you simply cannot put a price on. Getting a chance to have all the kids in one place so they can give each other “love taps”, “squeezies”, and talk is so beautiful. Even though all of our journeys with SMA may seem a bit different, we all have a commonality of “getting it”. That is a comfort that I cannot describe, I can only feel. Thank you all for coming, you have no idea how much that day meant to Mark, Getty and I.

Getty giving Kaige “squeezies”

All the ladies hanging with Captain Fitness

Love to you Seefloth Family

We are already brainstorming for our 3rd Annual which will be February 23rd 2014! Seems so far away, but I know will be here before we know it. Thank you all for coming. We hope that you had a fantastic time. We hope that we see you next year.

1 Week to go! More Cool Details and Oh My Goodness It’s Next Sunday!

From Kate:

You know when you have been looking forward to something for so long and then you come upon it and you think, “oh my goodness” it’s like next week. I am having one of those moments. No several, I’ll be honest.

Before I get to any new details, I want thank some people and companies that have just been so generous with either their time, hard work, monetary donations as well as in-kind donations, logistical help, you name it. I would like to thank our GOF board for all their hard work. Sunday will be the BIG day, but along the way we have all taken on responsibilities and I want to thank all 4 of you and 1 far, far away who has still made an impact. Thank you Stacey, Mark, Takoa, Sarita, and our temporary Aussie, Morgan. I would also like to thank our volunteers now who will be helping us in all kinds of ways on race day. You will be pulled in all kinds of directions, but I know you will all do a great job. It takes a village to accomplish an event like this, so many thanks to everyone involved.

This past Saturday we stuffed 1,000 goody bags. These goody bags will be going to all the registered runners/walkers. I want to thank the crew that came out to stuff so incredibly quickly. 1,000 bags is not an easy task and you guys did awesome. It was early in the morning and you were there ready to go. Thank you.

There are a couple really cool coupons inside the goody bags I think you should be aware of and save:

-Crocker Art Museum 2 for 1

-California Museum 2 for 1

-Joe’s Crab Shack will be putting on a fundraiser for us on March 7th. Keep the coupon when you go and 10% will go directly to Getty Owl Foundation. 

It has been nice to have a year under our belt. Certain things that stressed the heck out of me last year, seem to be no big deal. I hope that means it will be even smoother this year. 🙂

Some cool additions this year include giveaways at our 1/4 mile kids run. Before the run we will be giving away family 4 pack tickets to:

Sacramento Children’s Museum

Sacramento Zoo

Fairytale Town

Disneyland

* All pre-registered kiddos for the 1/4 mile run will be entered, so since this email is coming out now, I have a total of 64  kiddlets who will be able to win any one of these cool prizes. I would like to thank each company for donating their tickets.

After the 1/4 mile races are over, each child will receive a really cool ribbon. Our way of telling you how awesome you are and to encourage you to run another race in the near future. Running is fun and if you can run with Dinger, how much better can it get. 🙂

This year, we are changing from cotton to tech shirts. Very excited about that indeed. I love running in tech and I hope you all like them as well. I want to keep the image a surprise, but I would like to thank you Honey Agency for the awesome design. I would like to thank Kellie from Capital Road Race Management and Julie from NorCal Ultras.  I have learned so much from the two of you and I look forward to putting on another great event. Our 5am set up time is a killer, but it is well worth it.

I would like to thank all of the sponsors that have really stepped in to offer manpower, donations of all kinds, and support to the Getty Owl Foundation. For our second year, so many of you have stood by us and I cannot thank you enough.

Medals for all age group winners and awards for overall winners of both men and women will be awarded with special gifts. I was going to have this also be a secret, but why not, here are the medals. 🙂

Who will walk away with one of these beautiful ladies?

Our post-race festival will be terrific. Bigger and better than last year. Here is a list of vendor booths that will be there to support the Getty Owl Run/Walk. Click HERE! You will have a great time. Stay, hang out, eat, linger, meander, and enjoy the day. 

We will have our Getty Owl Foundation booth out there front and center. Stop by to learn more about SMA. Pick up information cards. Spin our wheel for fun prizes and finally we are organized enough this year, that we will have shirts, sweatshirts, hats, bottles, etc. for sale. It may be too late to buy your GOF gear online to have it for the race, but we do have a shop online as well. Prices will be cheaper on race day. Stop by and pick up some Getty Owl gear to help us spread the word.

I peeked at the registration numbers tonight and we have increased since last year. My hope is to hit 1,000. If the trend continues my wish just in fact my come true. Can you imagine 1,000 people coming to participate, learning about Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and having a great day enjoying time with family and/or friends on a non-rainy day. Oh, I already looked, no rain. 🙂 I am getting goosebumps.

Today, prices for registration have gone up. 5k and 10k have gone up to $37 and the 1/4 mile kids race will remain $15. If you have not registered yet, click here to do so. You can also register the day of and still be timed, which is cool.

Before I forget remember you can pick up your registrations before and the day of the event. If you want to get them early stop by Fleet Feet in Roseville. Click here and scroll down for time and days.

It has not been easy to take a step back and just enjoy the moment, but I certainly will try on Sunday the 24th. I look forward to working together to put on a great race and overall day. I look forward to seeing some very special people in the crowd. Many SMA families will be there in support and I am so looking forward to giving and receiving hugs. This day would not be complete without having Miss Getty and her daddy there to celebrate the day. All of this is for you my dear. All of it. I love you.

Getty Owl Foundation on Forum! [Listen]

From Mark:

Kate is raising SMA awareness in a podcast interview on Forum, Sacramento’s Digital Town Square! [Click to listen]

Kate isn’t able to get out very much, being a wonderful mom to our Little Owl; but when she does, she really makes it count! I am so proud of her for all she does for Getty, for Getty Owl Foundation, and for the SMA cause.

Thanks so much to Forum, Patrick Kennedy, and Isaac Gonzalez for inviting us, helping raise awareness of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and your contributions to the Sacramento community.