I have been wanting to post about the preparation/delivery of Janie Ann for me so that I wouldn't forget anything about it- of course I'm sure I will NEVER forget anything about it!!
Our journey really began on March 7th, that morning we woke up and discussed what all we had to do that day: go to Harrison's 3rd b-day party, visit the twins in Birmingham, and go by the house and check on the progress. So, I got up and just out of curiosity I went ahead and took a test- in less than the allotted time the + sign appeared on the stick. I was in total shock and just screamed- Seth was still in the bed and I made him get up and go get another test, a name brand one- the one we had was a wal-mart brand one and I figured it was just a blooper. So while Seth was gone, he told me not to take another one (out of the same box), so I didn't, but I did take one and run it under water from the sink to see if it was a blooper and that one came by negative. So while Seth was gone, I proceeded to get ready to head into town. When he returned, of course I didn't need to potty, so we headed onto New Site. When we got there I had drank enough water to float a boat and since his parents had already left for the party we went by there and tried the name brand test (EPT Certainty). So again, in less than the allotted time the word "PREGNANT" came up in the small little box plain and clear. At that point I started crying and just hugged Seth and we also decided not to tell anyone. Do you know how hard it is to find out that you are expecting and have to keep it a secret when you are going to a party where half of your family is there?!? And then we had to go to church on Sunday and STILL not tell a soul?! It was difficult. I called my doctor on Monday and explained that we had taken the test and that it was positive and I needed to come in and see the doctor as soon as possible because of my diabetes and I wanted to make sure everything was ok. So that afternoon we went and saw Dr. Litsey. First...let me back up to Monday at school- I was so excited and about to bust with the news and I wanted to tell SOMEONE, and that someone I wanted to tell was my mom because she was in LA at the time working and I just wanted her to know that she HAD TO BE HOME when her grandbaby was close to being born, so after emailing Seth multiple times we decided that we could tell FAMILY ONLY because they would realize something was up with me checking more than ever and my bloodsugars being crazy- so with that I called my mom while my students were at lunch! During the phone call Roz walked into the room and realized I was on the phone so she went back to her room, once I was done talking with my mom, I was crying and so I had to go talk to Roz and without telling her anything she figured it out! Now, onto the doctor visit- we went had the bloodwork done and discussed the next steps with Dr. Litsey (which was visiting him every week to start with and closely monitor my bloodsugars and get into the endo's office ASAP). After we left Dr. Litsey's office we went straight to Target to buy gifts for the other grandparents- we didn't find anything we loved, but we did get a Family picture frame for our growing family. We stopped first to tell my dad and grandfather, we went in and told them we had them a gift for helping so much with the house and my dad opened the frame first and was a little confused, then he opened the card and realized and was more than excited!! My grandfather just gave me a hug and said he was so excited and couldn't wait to meet the newest member of our family (it would be his first great-grandchild). Then we went onto Seth's parents house and we had to wait until Grandpa got home from work and so right before we ate dinner we gave them the card and frame- again, we told them it was something to say thanks for all the help with the building of our house. MeMaw opened the card and on the front it said something along the lines of, "Congrats on your new grandchild". MeMaw just screamed and started crying- this was grand-baby #6 for them. Sheena and Scott were there, so Seth went and called Shelly to share the news, but they had people at their house and we didn't want anyone besides family to know so Seth just asked Shelly to call him back once their company left. Anyways- we had shared the news with the family and know they had to keep it a secret, too!
From there we saw Dr. Litsey every week through the first trimester and then every 2 weeks for the first part of the 2nd trimester, then we moved to every 4 weeks (that was really only one visits!), then we were back to every 2 weeks at the end of the 2nd trimester- then it was once a week and at week 32 we started going twice a week for non-stress test (NST). My mom was able to come home for a week visit and during that time I asked Dr. Litsey if we could do an ultrasound- so at week 10 my mom was able to go with us to the first ultrasound and the first time I was able to hear her heartbeat. Then at week 16 we scheduled the ultrasolund to find out what we would be having and Seth's mom was able to go with us when we found out we would be having a beautiful little girl. Then at week 36 I saw Dr. Smith who discussed possible induction the next week...well then I saw Dr. Litsey and he wanted to wait as long as possible. So I got my hopes up only to be disappointed, but I know it was for the best. At the beginning of week 37 we had an ultrasound to see how big she was getting and at that point she was measuring right at 8lbs. Well, on Friday October 23rd I went into work and was feeling horrible, but I HAD to be there because my long-term sub was coming in to observe our day and see what all we did on a daily basis. I walked into the classroom and almost blacked out! I was feeling AWFUL. So I called Seth and asked him to come get me and just take me to Paden's trailor for the day- I went to the office to log my sick day and I left my long-term sub with the kids (bless her heart!). I called the dr. and he prescribed me some medicine for anti-nausea and told me to try it and see if it worked.... Seth went ahead and took a 1/2 day and the medicine worked for a short period of time. We went home (during this we had to go pick up Shelly's van and it was while the meds were working, so I drove her van home -it was ok for me to drive-and we just hung out at the house). Around 6:30 pm I took more meds and by 7:30 they were no longer working and so I called the EAMC Labor and Delivery to see what I needed to do (being diabetic I had to make sure i wasn't getting dehydrated and my bloodsugars were staying level). Dr. Golden was on call and asked me to check my ketones and if they were high to come on to the hospital. So of course they were high, and we loaded up the van and headed to the hospital. My mom was working that night, so she just waited for us at the hospital. I went back there and they hooked me up to an IV for fluids and also gave me some phenergan (thank goodness because the other stuff WAS NOT WORKING!!). So that was the beginning of week 38. Dr. Litsey was on call Saturday so when he came by to check on me, he went ahead and wrote me an excuse for work to not come back until after maternity leave- and I was discharged at 4:00. We did have to miss Harper’s first birthday party which I was upset about, but I don't think I could have made it anyways the way I was feeling- hopefully she will forgive us!! :) So I had an appointment with Dr. Litsey on Tuesday and at that appointment because I had made no progress he went ahead and scheduled a C-section for Friday October 30th at 7:00 am. So from Tuesday until Friday morning I was filled with excitement and nerves!! Was I ready for this journey to end and another to begin? Will I be a good mom? What if something goes wrong- will I be prepared to handle it? What if something happens during surgery? I had TONS of questions that went through my head daily. But we prepared the best we could and our last night without a baby we attended HBHS Last football game for the season- HBHS vs. Dadeville. Of course everyone was in shock that we were out, but I couldn't sit at home thinking about going into surgery the next morning!! We stayed until after half-time and I was getting tired so we headed to the house (my mom had stayed with me all week since I wasn't at work- Seth wanted someone to be there with me) so my mom was waiting on us when we got back and we loaded up the car and checked and double checked to make sure we had everything we could possibly need! That night it was SO hard to sleep- Seth and I talked about how much our lives were about to change for the better. So we set the alarm for 2:30 so that we would have an hour to get ready and be able to leave by 3:30 and be at the hospital no later than 5am (shooting for 4:30). Well, I hit the snooze button a few too many times and woke up around 3:15 am, got in the shower and was out and ready by 3:45! We took a few pictures in Janie Ann's room and off we went into the darkness of the morning!! We got to the hospital around 4:45 and started the check-in process. I was hooked up to IV's and they gave me a whole bag of fluids within an hour! My mom and dad were both there and visited for a while before they had to leave and wait. Seth's parents also came in for a little while. At 6z:45 they came in and explained what was about to happen. I would have to WALK into the surgery room and Seth would have to wait in the hospital room until they had given me the spinal block and it took- if it didn't take and they had to put me all the way under, Seth wouldn't be able to come back there. Then they gave me a sheet to cover my backside and I gave Seth a kiss and off I went. (Seth said it was the hardest thing he ever had to do, was to watch me walk out of that room without him with me, not knowing if he would be able to join me or not). I went into the surgery room and sat on the table ready for the spinal block- my nurse was awesome- she explained everything that was happening. After he gave me the shot I had a tingling feeling shoot down my left leg into my foot and back up- they then quickly laid me back and strapped my arms down on the table and tilted the table so that the meds would distribute evenly throughout my body. After they made sure the spinal worked He nurse went and got Seth while they prepped me for the surgery, They quickly began after Seth got in there- I felt them tugging on me and right before they pulled her out they told me I would feel a lot of pressure- and sure enough if felt as though they were pushing everything up my throat and at 7:12 am Janie Ann made her appearance into this world. It was truly a miracle!!! We had a wonderful nurse that took pictures for us throughout the entire process and that was wonderful!! She weighed in at 9lbs and 8 oz-larger than what Seth was expecting and close to what I was expecting. She had a head full of black hair and was just PERFECT! Seth was able to bring her to me and I was able to kiss her and just look at her (my arms were still strapped down, so I couldn't hold her yet). While they were finishing up on me, Seth was able to take her to the nursery and stop along the way to show her off to all our family and friends!! We have very few pictures from that moment because everyone was trying to see her- not worrying about pictures!! I was sent to recovery for about an hour before they took me to a room. The room they finally took me to was SO SMALL! Literally 3 visitors would fill up the room, so people were having to come visit and then leave for someone else to come in! I don't remember much- but I do remember TONS of visitors coming in that day!! The nurses realized how many friends and family we had and they worked quickly to clean a larger room for us!!
So on October 30, 2009 at 7:12 AM we were no longer a family of 2, but now a family of 3. Now onto the family ties to this day and her name... October 30th was Grandpa’s mom's birthday- I did not know her, she passed away when Seth was a little boy, so the fact that Janie Ann now shares her birthday with her great-grandmother is something special for Grandpa and Seth. Janie was my great-grandmother's name and my mom's middle name is Jane, and Ann is MeMaw's middle name- so that is how we got her name!! Now that I feel I have enough information about the day Janie Ann was born and the weeks and months leading up to it- I feel satisfied!
I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe new year- I know that 2010 will have a lot of firsts for us and I'm so excited to get to experience those with Seth and Janie Ann!!
One of our traditions is to begin Christmas Eve with the Christmas Eve breakfast that is either at Mrs. Cindy's house or Granny Jean
Then at lunch, Little Bit and I headed out to my grandmother's Christmas lunch at my Aunt St's house. We had some good traditional food- dressing, ham, deviled eggs (which I don't eat)...and the list goes on! Then we opened presents with them- Little Bit is one spoiled little girl! She got thsi awesome ball thing that has a stand and it lights up, so she can watch it to begin with and then as she gets more coordinated she can take the ball off the stand and play with it- definitely something for her to use when she gets bigger! Then after lunch we headed back to MeMaw's for Christmas with The Traveler's side of the family! Little Bit received TONS of gifts and Santa hadn't even made his way to her house yet!!
Just to name a few of the guests and family that were there- I will start with her GREAT-Grandparents. She has a total of 9, yes NINE great grandparents, which I think is amazing- all of them but 2 were able to be with us. Thank you Granny, Grand-daddy, Papaw G, Nana, Papaw and Mamaw P and Papaw S for coming to the service, it meant so much to The Traveler and I. Along with her great-grandparents, her grandparents were also in attendace: MeMaw and Grandpa (The Traveler's parents), Gigi, and Grand-dad (my parents). Then comes all the aunts and uncles and cousins....this could take a while, so I'm just going to list you by family: The Dennis', Hunter's, Kinman's, Ruff's, Daughtry's, and my brother and his girlfriend K. Then we had friends from every where there!! A HUGE thank you to Lee, Carrie and Carpenter Williams coming all the way from Tuscaloosa and to Lee for singing Little Bit a song on such short notice!! Needless to say, when they asked all family and friends to stand almost the entire church had to stand!! We are BLESSED to have so many who care and love us!!
