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Update: Carissa Joy is here!
Carissa Joy. Born Feb 1.
4lbs 13 oz. 16.5 inches
Carissa, moments after her birth
1st photo as a family of 4
Gung Gung, Popo (grandma & grandpa) & Carissa
We can’t believe she’s ours!
Carissa visited Baba’s office for the 1st time
Our little peanut
I love when Carissa’s eyes are open.
My baby girl is here! Carissa Joy was born at 9:13pm on February 1, 2016 and was 4 lbs 13 oz and 16.5 inches. Her arrival caught us completely off guard because she was born a month early. We were so unprepared that it was almost comical.
I was driving on an errand on February 1. I wasn’t supposed to be driving. I was supposed to be on bed rest. But I was trying to get an estimate for a scratch on my car. All of a sudden while driving, I had a contraction so strong I almost passed out. I swerved and almost hit this police car. This officer got out and I could tell he was upset. But when I told him about my contractions his face changed. He called for an ambulance and Roxy and I were on the way to the hospital. Seriously, Officer Coleman could have given me a ticket because of the way I had been driving. But I thank God he realized I was really not okay and insisted I go to the hospital. I wish I could thank him in person for what he did. I would have been in a really precarious state and bad situation if I hadn’t gone to the hospital when I did. They sent me to Methodist in an ambulance. Kenny doesn’t usually work there but that day he was on call. I paged him and he asked me,”Where are you?” I told him, “I’m in the ER at Methodist.” He responded,”I’m right down the hall.” I was so lucky Kenny happened to be working there. I was also lucky my ob gyn Dr. Overbey happened to be on call at Methodist as well. So they moved me to Labor and Delivery on the 2nd floor and checked me out. Dr. Overbey looked at Kenny and said, “She’s 4.5 centimeters dilated. I’m admitting her.” Kenny looked at me and it was at that moment that I think he realized that I was really in labor. I looked at Kenny and told him, “Your paternity leave starts now!”
We weren’t ready at all. We didn’t even have hospital bags packed. Our baby car seat was still in the box. Fortunately we do have good friends who stepped up to help us out. Our friends Daisy and Simon and Alicia and Aaron have keys to our house. They went to our house, packed up bags for all of us for the hospital, fed our cats, got my car from where I had left it, and installed the baby car seat that was still in the box. Then they came to the hospital and Alicia and Daisy were actually in the room with me, Roxy, and Kenny as I delivered. (Don’t worry, Roxy was in the room but didn’t see the baby coming out because we thought the blood would scare her.) I had arrived in the hospital around 4:30pm. I pushed around 15 minutes only and Carissa was born at 9:13pm. It was super quick and I’m still reeling from the shock of Carissa arriving a month early. Everyone around me said that this was really fast for a first birth.
Baby Carissa was born as bit small and they had concerns about her body temperature and possible jaundice but we were able to go home with her on Wednesday February 2. We were so grateful we didn’t have to spend a week in the NICU like many preemies. Carissa had to spend a few hours in the NICU and those hours were agony for me any Kenny. There was one scary incident where she actually stopped breathing and they rushed her to the NICU a few moments after birth. We’re still working on getting her to latch but I’ve started pumping and feeding her. So far we’re doing well. The lack of sleep isn’t really getting to me or Kenny since we have dealt with lack of sleep before. I think for me, the physical pain of pregnancy and labor has been the hardest thing for me to deal with. But once I physically recover it’s all good. We love Carissa so much already. We realize the magnitude of what God has done, especially with me getting pregnant after we adopted Roxy. But we are still stunned by the sheer speed and power with which Carissa entered into our lives. Thank you God. Thank you for the gift of our beautiful new baby girl.
I’ll type more later when I get a chance. Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes! Please pray for Carissa to gain some weight, for her to learn to latch, and for my physical recovery from child birth.
XOXO Jax
P.S. All of you who are expecting please learn from my mistake and pack a hospital bag more than a month before your delivery date! Also if they tell you you’re on bed rest, don’t be trying to run errands like I did. I tried to run one errand and I went into labor!!!
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