<<Reminiscing on my sweet Jade>>
2005-07-22 - 7:03 a.m.

July 22, 2002 was an extremely stormy summer night.

I was 11 days shy of being due with my third child, whose sex I didn't know. I was working second shift at that time, I beleive the 5p-2a shift, and I remember seeing Perna at the beginning of my operations shift that evening at the Plymouth call center.

The storm was pretty wicked, and no one was planning on making a food run that night. And of course, being hugely pregnant, I was starving.

Denson and I opted to order in some Mexican food from a delivery service in the area. We ordered massive amounts of salty, cheesy goodness from On The Border. We had to. There was a $25 minimum. A mere 45 minutes later, our "delivery butler", the god that he was that evening- complete with a cheesy t shirt that was designed to look like a tuxedo had our food carried right to our desks and we ate like a king & queen.

Back up just a tad. Earlier that evening, I had stopped at the McDonalds across the street to cure my chocolate craving with a triple-thick milkshake, which I proceeded to spill all over myself as soon as I got to work. The lid wasn't on all the way. *sigh* and being as large as I was, none of our promotional t-shirts would fit over my expanding belly. Thank god for my dear friend Denson, who happened to have a very comfy 3X Hawaiian button up shirt just sitting at his desk.

Anyhow. So Denson and I are eating like royalty while everyone else is getting drenched and going across the street to McDonalds. As we're tearing into our food, I said something to the effect of "Thats the third contraction I've had in 15 minutes." and didn't think much else of it. Neither did Denson. We both figured it was false labor, as I had ran into that a few times with this pregnancy. We continued on with our food and watched HBO. 30minutes later, the contractions were still 5 minutes apart. I told Denson that I was going to time them for another 30 minutes, and that I might need to leave early to get checked out, just in case. He thought it was hilarious that I thought I may be in labor. "You're too calm to be in labor.." he said. I reminded him that this was my third child..

30 minutes later, they were still consistent. I told Denson I was going to drive myself to U of M just to make sure it was braxton hicks, and call it a night. I didn't even call Larry to wake him up at this point. I was sure it was nothing, because well, it lacked the extremely intense pain that I remember so vividly from my other labor experiences.

I take my time getting to U of M. While exiting at Plymouth road (I needed to use the ATM), I started thinking about how stupid I just was to drive myself, possibly in labor, to the hospital. I started to get a little panicky and remembered how fast Kayleigh was born. I picked up the pace a little and made it to U of M Women's hospital in one piece.

I got there, got hooked up to everything..waited alone for what seemed like forever, until around 2am, and finally a nurse came in and checked me. And I was dialated to 5. They were admitting me.

I called Larry and woke him up, called my dad and sent him over to watch the kids, and just sat there in disbelief that I was about to give birth to my third child. I still didn't know the sex, and at the last minute, we weren't sure of a name if it was a girl. If it was a boy, we were going to name him Jayden Steven. If it was a girl, I wanted to name her Jenna Ashlyn-Grace. Larry liked Jenna, but hated two middle names. He was really pushing for Jade. I outright refused to name my child Jenna Jade Jewell. I think we were both hoping for a boy at that point, to save the argument.

Larry finally got there, we got admitted into a high risk room, because my blood pressure had sky rocketed, and it was fairly uneventful for awhile. The oncall OB came in and asked if I needed anything for the pain. At this point, I'd been up for over 24 hours and needed some rest, so I asked if I could have an epidural. She wasn't too keen on the idea, but I talked her into it anyhow, and within the hour, the anesthiologist was sticking needles into my spine. I was medicated, and then I fell asleep for several hours.

I woke up and my contractions were becoming bothersome and painful and I felt a whole lot of pressure..in my hynie. Way more then I can recall in my prior births. My OB had arrived, and checked me, and told me it was time to push. And I freaked out. I started crying and panicking and saying stuff like "I don't want to do this right now." etc. I went from sleeping to being an emotional wreck in less then 5 minutes. After a heart to heart with my OB, whom I adore, btw, I started realizing how silly I was being, and that this would all be over soon and I'd have a sweet baby to adore. None of this seemed important though. I realized right then, as I was getting ready to push, that I had forgotten to call in to work to let them know I wouldn't be in. (The things that seem important..sheesh..) I called and spoke to my friend Jeff and informed him I was in labor, and that I'd call him back once the baby was born. And also informed him to tell Denson that I labored in his shirt and it was quite comfy. (I hadn't. It was a joke. I was in that starchy uncomfortable ass hospital gown..) Jeff doubted my being in labor as well.

Pushing was uneventful. It hurt like hell, obviously. My ass (literally..) felt like it was on fire. The baby crowned, and I was told it had a headful of black hair. I got to touch her head as she was coming out of me. What an incredible, emotional expereince. I helped guide her out of me with the next push, and unknown to me at that time, my OB pulled the umbilical cord from around her neck. It was wrapped 3 times. She was immediately placed on my bare chest, before being cleaned. It was so surreal, and I was most definitely in tears by now. My OB and staff didn't tell us what the sex was, and told us we would have to take a pic ourselves. After what felt like forever, I finally peeked, and I had been blessed with another beautiful baby girl. Who had no name for over 24 hours. We finally compromised. I gave her her first name, Savannah, and Larry gave her her middle name, Jade. (side note- I called Jeff back 20 minutes after I gave birth, which was 40 minutes after I had spoken to him initially and gave him the baby's stats- 7'11" and 20 1/4", born at 10:45 am)

The next few days are somewhat a blur. Savannah had to stay two extra nights in the hospital because I was group-B strep positive when she was born. It generally isn't a big deal- they give you antibiotics during labor and monitor the baby for 72 hours after birth. I remember my friend Kirk stopped by later that day, and I was completely out. Completely incoherent. I'm not even sure how long he stayed, but I hope it wasn't too long. The next day Sandor, Ryanne and James stopped by too :) And brought me chicken nuggets. heh.

That day, though three years ago, seems like it was just the other day. Everything has just flown by, and I miss nursing my sweet baby girl to sleep. I miss the cooing, and the crawling, and the baby babble. My sweet little girl, who now has strawberry blondeish hair and dark brown eyes, is a motor mouth. Albeit, a very sweet and loving motormouth. She is very creative. She loves to pretend. She loves to annoy me by changing her clothes 6+ times a day and promises me every day that she will go on the potty. She told us the other day that she really wants to go to preschool. She also asked this morning where her "fucking barbie" was. Whoops.. something to work on there.. My sweet Savannah Jade is growing up before my very eyes. I wish I could make time stand still. I wish I could hold my youngest, and most likely the last of my children, forever. I wish I never had to let her go. After 11 months of emotions, trying to conceive and failing, month after month, and nearing the point of making an appointment with a fertility specialist, I realize how fortunate I am to have such a beautiful family, and what a blessing she is to have in our lives.

A little fuzzy, but this is when I was 29 weeks pregnant with Savannah.



Savannah, one week old, with a head full of black hair



My sweet little girl, playing in the sand at Myrtle Beach

It's hard to beleive that tomorrow, she will be 3.

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Last 5 Entries:
Reminiscing on my sweet Jade - 2005-07-22
An update. Just for mari. - 2005-07-21
An update. Just for mari. - 2005-07-21
Farewell, Diaryland. - 2004-11-01
not the ultimate sacrifice..but a pretty big one... - 2004-06-23