KidsLifeParenting

I Blinked and She Was 15

15 years ago I walked into the hospital to be induced with our first baby. I was a nervous wreck and had no idea what to expect, even after reading a million pregnancy books, magazines, websites, etc. As soon as I was laying on that bed hooked up with Pitocin, everything I had read was thrown out the window.

I Blinked and She Was 15

At 37 weeks pregnant, we learned that the umbilical cord was 2 vessels instead of 3 (Single umbilical artery (SUA)). Imagine Mickey Mouse’s head and ears, that’s basically what the cord should look like but ours was only Mickey’s head and one lonely ear. This meant that even though I was gaining weight like normal and eating like a pig, the baby wasn’t getting all of the nutrients or growing as fast as she should. The mid-wife predicted that the baby was less than 5 lbs. They decided to induce me at 38 weeks along.

I was scheduled to arrive at the hospital at midnight on March 7, 2001. Joining the hubs and I was my mom and mother-in-law. This was a huge deal for my mom since it was her first grandchild. This was my mother-in-law’s 4th but it was the first time she had ever been in the room to witness the birth of one.

Since I have horrible anxiety issues already, my mom asked the nurse if there was anything safe to give me to help with that. I don’t know what she gave me but it was some good stuff. As soon as it entered my IV, I was loopy, falling in and out of sleep, having strange dreams, and even talking nonsense. It makes for a great labor story though! I remember telling someone to let the dog out and leave him alone. I don’t know who’s dog I was talking about but apparently it was annoyed with someone!

Labor progressed normally and man did those contractions hit me! I had already expected an epidural because I do not deal with pain well. I felt bad because I wanted no one to touch, look, or talk to me…basically pretend that I didn’t exist while those contractions hit. Of course everyone wanted to rub my hair and help me along but I couldn’t handle it. Poor hubs coward in the corner, already scared because it was his first time, his wife is in pain & he can’t help, and she wants to rip someone’s face off (most likely his). I was fine between contractions and then OMG-THIS-HURTS-HOLD-ME-DON’T-TOUCH-ME! The word I ended up hating to death was “Breathe”. If someone told me to breathe one more frickin’ time I was going to snap. Apparently, when I was going through a contraction, I was holding my breath because it helped me get through it. Yeah, not so good when you have another person inside of you relying on those breaths.

I was eventually far enough along to get my epidural..ahh that sweet, sweet, epidural. One of the hardest thing to do is sit perfectly still, teetering on the edge of a hospital bed while having a contraction and needle is going into your spinal area. The longest few minutes of my life but I wanted to kiss the doctor when he was done. It hit instantly and I was able to breathe normally again but felt like my waist down didn’t exist anymore.

I ended up needing an amnioinfusion due to meconium (baby poop) found in the womb. This basically means that they ran a tube up inside the uterus by the baby and flushed out the womb using sterile IV fluid. This way, there is less chance of her breathing in the meconium. Baby girl was totally fine through all of this.

When it was time to push, my legs were basically dead to the world so the hubs and my mom had to hold them up for me. I had absolutely no control whatsoever. It was like trying to control someone else’s leg – not gonna happen. It didn’t take much for her to make her way out to the world, maybe 4 big pushes and she shot down the water slide (due to the amnioinfusion). We joke about it to this day because her zodiac sign in Pisces, the fish.

Hearing her first cry and having her put on my chest to see and hold her was such a surreal experience. The hubs and I were on top of the world and the two grandmothers were snapping pics like the paparazzi. The mid-wife and my mother-in-law started singing Happy Birthday to baby girl and everyone else joined in.

Jazmine Grace came into the world at 5:07 PM on March 7, 2001 weighing 5 lbs. 7 oz. –  at least a whole pound more than they all originally thought. She was so itty bitty that we had to dress her in preemie clothes and diapers. She was absolutely gorgeous and perfect.

I Blinked and She Was 15 I Blinked and She Was 15

There are a few great coincidences surrounding her birth:

  • Born 5:07 / March (5 letters) 7th / 5 lbs 7 oz.
  • Jazmine (7 letters) Grace (5 letters)
  • In the Bible, number 7 means perfection and number 5 means God’s grace, goodness and favor toward humans (Grace is her middle name! It was also my great-grandmother’s name as well as hub’s grandmother’s)

It’s normal for newborns to lose a few ounces before leaving the hospital. She ended up weighing 5 lb. 3 oz. when we left. If she fell below 5 lbs., they would have had to keep her until she went back up over it. He car seat swallowed her up and she looked even more tiny in it. The hubs and I were scared to death to leave the hospital. We weren’t ready to do this on our own yet! What were they thinking?! Luckily, we were living with my mom and stepdad at the time so we weren’t alone. Best thing ever!

That drive home was the worst. I sat in the back with baby girl and hubs drove like anyone would carrying precious cargo. Any car coming within an inch closer than a full car length was tailgating us, according to him, and causing him to have a heart attack. I think we both held our breath the entire car trip while baby girl snoozed away, oblivious to everything.

I Blinked and She Was 15

We ended up needing to have an ultrasound done on her kidneys when she was about 3 months old due to the Single umbilical artery. We were told that there is a small chance that it could have caused problems for her kidneys in the womb but the ultrasound proved there was no worries.

I swear that all I did was blink and then she was registering for Driver’s Ed class online. How did this even happen?! 15 years?! I told the hubs the other day, “Do you realize that next year she will be the same age we were when we started dating?!”

I Blinked and She Was 15

Jaz is an amazingly beautiful, talented, witty & sarcastic, my best friend & all-around awesome person. She is very passionate about what she believes in and will stop at nothing to make sure everyone knows it. Sometimes it doesn’t go over well with her dad but that’s pretty much normal, right?

Our family friends from the UK happened to be visiting FL this past week so all of us visited with them on Sunday. They surprised Jaz with a birthday cake and card while the rest of our family visiting there as well gave her their gifts. It was a nice little surprise party.

I Blinked and She Was 15

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Jess Benoit

Jess is a homeschooling mama of 3, wife, gamer, Whovian, Nerd

6 thoughts on “I Blinked and She Was 15

  • Thank You for sharing Your lovely story! I love it! Jaz is so beautiful 🙂

    Reply
  • Jaz looks so much like you – it is incredible! Thank you for sharing the story of the birth of your baby girl – but to be honest you got me a wee bit terrified of labor! I know it is worth it but ughhhh so scary!!

    Reply
    • Oh no! No matter how many kids you have, it’s still scary but totally, totally worth it LOL

      Reply
  • I loved reading this I was to young to know anything that was happening I just knew I was a cousin! I love her to the moon And back and can’t believe where time had gone! Thank you for the flash backs! Love you all! ❤

    Reply
    • Saraaahhhhhh!!!!! I didn’t realize just how eventful the labor & birth really was with her until I started writing it all down. I think you were 8, almost 9 in March 2001? I’m so glad you were able to read it. Love you bunches! <3

      Reply

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