GIVEAWAY: Chenille Lounge Socks from PatientStyle (2 winners!)

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

In the months and weeks leading up to Big Sister E's birth, I read all the books and marked the pages with the lists of what to bring to the hospital. Extra hair ties to keep my hair back and out of the way? Check. New bathrobe for pacing the halls during labor? Check. Soothing music on the iPod? Check. We had our large suitcase packed and ready to go.

Little did I know that her birth would be a 24+ hour marathon (28 to be exact, but who's counting?) and once my water was broken there was no way I was going to be calmly walking the halls in that new bathrobe. The majority of things that we had packed stayed in the suitcase.

So, what items did I actually use? Mainly just my toothbrush and socks (and a cute baby outfit to bring my new bundle of joy home in, of course). What would have made it better and would DEFINITELY be packed if I was going to the hospital again? Chenille Lounge Socks from PatientStyle.


Dedicated to providing useful, comfortable and stylish items for new and expecting moms, as well as for all loved ones who have to endure a hospital stay, PatientStyle.com has gifts to help the whole family feel better faster.

Don't put up with the uncomfortable, always-too-revealing gowns that hospitals provide, bring your own Ava Designer Hospital Gown and enjoy not only the cheerful colors and decorative accents, but the snap down back to keep it closed. The 100% cotton softness and snaps on the shoulders also make these gowns the perfect thing to help raise the spirits of maternity or non-maternity patients.

Instead of showing up with another bunch of flowers, bring a new mom an award-winning Snuggle Bug Swaddle Blanket and Cap Set and you'll have given her a gift that will last much longer (and is so much cuter)! Even better, if you can't be there in person, just give PatientStyle the name, building and room number of your loved one and they will deliver any of their amazing gifts for you.

Ahhhh, and then there's the Slipper Socks. Available in dark blue for men and light pink for women, I can't remember the last time my feet were so pampered. I've felt chenille before, but never this soft and cozy and snuggly and... mmmm. I had barely taken them out of the box when Big Sister E was clamoring to wear them herself. It's a good thing PatientStyle sent us two pairs for review, as otherwise there would have had to be a fair amount of negotiating going on.


Aside from the magical softness, PatientStyle's Chenille Lounge Socks have two more benefits over regular socks. One is that they are enhanced with antimicrobial features, which, by definition, are "capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of microorganisms." I try not to think about the germs lurking on hospital floors, or the ones on my own for that matter, but I would definitely like a little extra protection for my feet wherever I can get it.

The second great element to these Slipper Socks is the non-skid bottom, which isn't only a cute design, but REALLY works. Recently my husband cleaned our wood floors with something that must not have been meant for them (although it was much appreciated that he cleaned the floors), because they are nearly as slippery as ice. I had taken to doing the slide-shuffle-step as I walk to keep from falling, but these Lounge Socks grip like no other. Both Big Sister E and I haven't slipped once since we've started wearing them!

At $15 a pair, PatientStyle's Lounge Socks are worth every penny. They have not only replaced any slippers that I was previously wearing, but they come out of the laundry as soft and thick as when I first took them out of the box. Whether for wearing around the house or for enhancing a hospital visit, these Slipper Socks are staying with my feet from now on. Want to give your toes some pampering? Thanks to the generosity of PatientStyle, two lucky people will get to experience plush softness for themselves, because...

Two lucky people will win Chenille Lounge Socks of their own!

To enter to win your Chenille Slipper Socks (in your choice of color): Visit PatientStyle and tell me another of their great products that you like. Please do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile. I have to have a way to contact the winners.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted. For example, if you subscribe, leave one comment saying "I subscribe #1" and a separate comment saying "I subscribe #2")

1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow PatientStyle on Twitter and/or sign up for their mailing list (lower left of their homepage). You'll get to hear about new brands, styles, trends and sales!
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway. See the list on the top of my right sidebar - there are some really great ones going on right now and coming up!
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

PatientStyle's Chenille Lounge Socks pamper feet in amazing softness @thxmailcarrier from @patientstyle! http://bit.ly/8vIYn5 #win #giveaway

2 Extra Entries per follow method (leave 2 separate comments for each type) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect (see sidebar), subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and PatientStyle. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on January 4th, 2010 (a little extra time to skip over the holidays) at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to US residents only.

A big thank you to Lindsay at PatientStyle for providing two pairs of Chenille Lounge Socks for review as well as one for two lucky giveaway winners. My feet have never been happier! The opinions shared are my own and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

A picnic blast from the past

Back in the spring of 2006, I was pregnant with Big Sister E and went in for my 20-week ultrasound only days before my husband and I left for a vacation with family and friends to San Francisco and Maui. We found out she was going to be a girl and I was overjoyed, ready to shop for little Hawaiian print dresses to bring home in preparation for her arrival. However, when my cell phone rang during the trip and I found my OB on the other end, I knew it couldn't be good news.

One of the hardest things to hear when you're pregnant with your first child is that there might be something wrong with them. It turned out the ultrasound showed one kidney was measuring much larger than the other one and Big Sister E was diagnosed with hydronephrosis, a fancy word for dilation of the kidneys. We were told to wait it out, as most cases end up resolving themselves, so wait we did. In the end, she was one of the unfortunate cases that didn't clear up on its own, so she had to have surgery. Let me tell you, getting your 4-month-old all drugged up and ready with her IV and then handing her over to a med student and watching him walk away towards the OR is completely heart-wrenching.

February 20, 2007

Thankfully, it all turned out fine. Between then and now we've been through a million different tests and scans and appointments to continue monitoring her and they've all had very positive results. In fact, after the checkup we had a few months ago, I was told that they were "graduating" us and Big Sister E was now done being poked and prodded unless we saw reason in the future to check her out again. YEAH, as if I'm volunteering her for more of THAT.

One of the few positive aspects of the whole experience has been the children's hospital picnic that we have gone to every summer for the past three years, including this past weekend. Every child who has been a patient at the hospital is invited to come with their family and play games and eat food and win prizes and, in general, have fun. It's a very humbling experience, as we go and see so many children with so many different abilities and needs and many that have been through difficulties in their lives that I will never begin to understand. I turn and look at my little girl and know that the only lasting effect she will ever have is a 2-inch scar on her lower back. And I know that we are so lucky.

Big Sister E eying up Daddy's snow cone in 1997

How times have changed.

So, we go to have fun. I let her eat a lunch of potato chips and ice cream and snow cones and popcorn and cookies and think to myself that one day of complete junk food doesn't matter. Not when we're there to celebrate children and thank the hospital for all that they have done, not only for us but for kids from all over the state and probably beyond. It reminds me to be thankful and glad that we were able to catch the hydronephrosis early enough and that by having the procedure as a baby, Big Sister E will have no memory of any of her hospital visits or the tests or the surgery and her recovery.

As for Big Sister E at the picnic? She of course enjoyed the food, liked playing some of the games (when kids are standing there with a fake fishing pole in their hands and the line gets draped behind a sheet and then reappears with a small foam cow clothes-pinned to it, are they REALLY believing that they are fishing?) and won a few small prizes. I even managed to talk her into getting within five feet of Scoopie. It was a successful day celebrating the health and wellness of my little girl.

The prized foam cow can be seen here not leaving Big Sister E's clutches. This was taken after about a half hour of on-and-off discussion and multiple failed attempts to go anywhere near Scoopie. When she finally relented and gave him a high five and paused long enough for me to take the picture, I think he was pretty happy about it, too. That, or he was glad to stop being stalked by the crazy mom who was too excited about getting her kid to say hi to an oversize custard cone.