It’s been three weeks. Three weeks since our little Jaimee joined us and every day I am still pinching myself. She is so tiny, so perfect and such a good baby! This 22 year surprise has sure been an interesting mix of complete unknowns, yet at the same time framed with so many instances where I just knew, and I knew she knew things. Like her early arrival: she knew when she had to get here to meet her grandpa before he passed. If she’d waited until her due date she’d have missed it. If they’d kept me the normal time in the hospital after a cesarean, we’d have missed the window too. She knew exactly when she needed to arrive and under what circumstances.
So backtracking to her arrival, I spent two weeks in the hospital on bed rest. I’m grateful this didn’t happen until 35 weeks! I’ve heard horror stories of much longer war stories. It started with a simple leak – literally. I’d just sent Blake and the kids off for mutual activities when I sat down to eat and noticed I’d sprung some sort of leak. It wasn’t enough to say my water broke, but it was definitely too much to be normal. At about 8:30 p.m. we headed to the hospital to get things checked out. The initial fluid tests came back negative for amniotic fluid, however the doctor’s ultrasound caused concern as he said he saw very little fluid and had some concerns about the placenta. He said he’d not be able to sleep if he sent me home; that it would be best to keep me overnight for observation. He said if it was indeed a rupture, labor would follow within the next 12 hours. The next 12 hours were long but not from labor. Being hooked up to monitors and having to pee every hour made for a long night. The next morning the ultrasound technician came and his tests showed great results, the fluid was up and all other readings were great. But the protein tests came back elevated and the blood pressure followed suit. In short, my placenta was showing signs of distress and so in the hospital we stayed until we reached the 37 week mark.
Two weeks of hospital walls can make you a little crazy. But I’m happy to report that my experience was truly made doable by the amazing staff of nurses and doctors caring for me and baby. Everyone knew our story, our Cinderella baby they called her. As a result, everyone wanted in on the action. The care was top notch, everyone was so nice and I developed many wonderful friendships as a result. Many conversations kept me in awe of how the Lord works. I relived our adoption stories, found amazing connections as a result and just kept shaking my head at how the Lord knows how to help our paths cross with others to provide help.
The first week was uneventful with the exception of Saturday night when contractions began. For 13 hours they went from 7-10 minutes apart to and hour of 2-3 minutes apart, then back to a few hours of 7-10 minutes. By morning I was exhausted but she was still so high the contractions had done nothing to prepare for birth, just worn out mom. Pain meds the next day got mom calling the doctor her friend and by afternoon all went back to a calm status. The second week brought a little stability to the numbers and they opted to induce labor Tuesday night. After another long night of no sleep we learned only half of my body had cooperated; the cervix was ready but I hadn’t dilated. So door number two was taken and Jaimee arrived via c-section at 9:36 am, Wednesday, June 4, 2014. She was 5 lbs, 15 oz and 19 inches long – and absolutely adorable.
Cidnie and Taylor couldn’t wait to meet their new little sister!
The first night I kept looking over to see daddy and baby sleeping soundly. Each time I couldn’t believe it was really happening, that our baby was here and sound asleep just next to my bed.
Daddy says he feels 20 years younger! Mom says Jaimee is so cute she can’t stand it.
Thanks to the previous two week hospital stay, the doctor took mercy on us and let us come home a day early. Friday afternoon we arrived home. We went over to mom and dad’s first so dad could see mom and baby. It turns out this was the perfect and limited window for their meeting, by Sunday he was in a medicated state where he stayed until he passed away a week later. You can’t tell me this little one didn’t know. She knew. She knew exactly when she needed to be here.
It’s now been three weeks. Our little miracle is growing strong. She dropped to 5 lbs 3 oz by her 4 day check up, and had made it up to 5 lb 7.5 oz at her two week check up. Monday she weighed in at 6 lb 1 oz. Way to go Jaimee! She’s as perfect and wonderful as can be. She’s so calm and peaceful and we all feel it when we’re around her. Here’s a quick photo wrap up of the past three weeks:
Because everyone loves pictures…here’s some of her newborn photo shoot:
And just for kicks and giggles. Here’s a collage of newborn photos. On the left we have dad and mom, Jaimee is on the right. I think she fits right in!!
