I know, it’s been a long time coming…both this letter and yes, our first baby after 13 years of marriage! Needless to say, it was a very busy year last year. And, here goes the story…
January started off the year in full swing. Anthony had a field exercise with the Army while Jamie also participated on the civilian side. Extra hours were not unheard of during this time. Anthony was in the field, living in a tent, while Jamie was working 12-hour shifts inside the Simulation Center. This lasted through the end of February. The time was stressful to say the least.
In April, we had the best news ever! Jamie found out she was pregnant with a due date of December 19, 2002. We had been trying for three years and finally, it came true! Jamie could not, would not believe it, as she had no symptoms except the positive test. Jamie did not want to tell anyone until it was confirmed; but Anthony was positive we were pregnant and was so excited he called everyone that night.
Jamie did not have her first Ultrasound until she was 17 weeks along. It wasn’t until she actually saw her baby that she finally believed—even hearing the heartbeat was not enough for her. It was very hard for her to believe when there was no morning sickness, no cravings, and no problems whatsoever. The ultrasound confirmed it and that’s when Jamie started getting excited!
In May, Anthony began clearing the military. His term of service was up and he decided that it was not worth staying in anymore. He told Jamie a long time ago that when he did not have pride in what he was doing it was time to move on. Over the last 2 or 3 years Anthony had lost his pride in the Army. He still carries his pride for his country and he is saddened that his pride in the Military service as disappeared. But, it was time for him to move on. In June, he started his terminal leave and July 20th was his very last day in the Army.
In August Anthony started working a temporary position with my company for a field exercise. Jamie was working long hours again, as was Anthony and we got to work together again. It was a good time. By this time, Jamie was starting to show and had to get maternity clothes. She was having a great pregnancy and still no symptoms aside from being tired. By this time though, she did develop a taste for Peanut Butter. She started eating peanut butter and apples on a daily basis. So much so, she was going through a 10lb jar of peanut butter a month.
We had a break during September at work but Jamie was busy planning the next exercise. This one was constantly changing. It was to take place 2 weeks in November and 2 weeks in December, but with the real world crisis we had to condense it and it was 3 weeks in November. So, everything that was planned had to be thrown out and started new. This kept Jamie busy up until the end of the exercise. Anthony was still working the temp job with Jamie, but he had a permanent position with another company starting the day after the exercise ended.
By the start of the last exercise Jamie was 7 and a half months pregnant and still loving every minute of it and still eating her peanut butter. She had her last ultrasound during this time and we got to see his face! He had Anthony’s eyes already with long eye lashes. He sleeps like Anthony too….will not wake for anything. The technician wiggled and jiggled and poked and prodded to get him to move so she could get a reading of his head. But he refused to budge. Since she could not get an accurate reading of his head, they bumped my due date to December 31st. We kind of figured he would be late anyway. Everyone told us your first is usually late. My mom said I was 5 days late. And we are always showing up late for everything we figured he would be the same.
The exercise ended on November 22. Two days later my friends threw me a baby shower. It was nice but small. And we all had fun. And two days later I was in the hospital having Joshua…
Joshua Allen decided to make his entrance 3 weeks early on 26 November 2002 at 9:19am. He weighed 5lbs 12oz and was 17.75 inches long.
When Jamie went to bed on Monday night she just could not get comfortable. Around 3:00 after a few hours of tossing and turning and finally getting to sleep, she felt the urge to go to the bathroom but just couldn't make it in time. After making it to the bathroom, she lay down again and about a half hour later, she had the same urge. This time she checked to see if everything was ok. There was some blood, and since she couldn't sleep anyway, she went to do some research on what was happening. After sitting at the computer for about a half hour, she started feeling an achiness in her lower back. She thought nothing of it as it went away. Then it happened again, the same achy feeling. After a few of these aches, she began to wonder. So, she started timing how often they occurred. They were very erratic--going from 3 mins, to 7 mins, to 1 minute, to 10 minutes, to 2 minutes. After about an hour of this, the pain intensified. At this point, Jamie thought it was nothing more than Braxton-Hicks Contractions. So, she just wandered around the house, tried to quilt, tried to do the bills, all the while timing the contractions and hoping they would go away on their own. After yet another hour of non-stop, non-regular contractions, Jamie finally broke down and awoke Anthony.
After telling him what was going on, he went for the timer himself. He began timing not only how often they occurred, but also how long they lasted. Even after 3 hours of timing, they were not getting any easier, nor were they getting any more regular. Finally around 6:30am, Jamie decided enough was enough. She had Anthony driver her to the hospital. They both agreed that it was best if the doctor checked her out and maybe stop the contractions and we could go on with our day.
We arrived at the Emergency Room at about 6:50 and they told us we could go straight back to Labor and Delivery. We walked back there, told the nurses on duty the story and they took Jamie to the examining room, while Anthony went to register her into the Hospital. During the examination, the nurse found that Jamie already broke her water (hence, the urge to go to the bathroom and not being able to control it) and that she was already dilated 5 centimeters. When Anthony finally came back from registration, Jamie was already in the delivery room getting poked and prodded. As soon as she saw Anthony, she said, "We are having the baby today".
This whole time, the contractions were ever increasing but still very erratic. Jamie was always under the impression they HAD to be regular in order for you to give birth. Well, that theory is blown out of the water. By the time the anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural Jamie must have already been 9 centimeters. The medicine did not have time to take full effect before it was time to start pushing. We think she only had to push for about an hour. It was 9:19am when the doctor declared the birth of our son. Jamie was so very relieved the pain was finally over.
Jamie and Joshua were released from the hospital the next day. However, after a couple of hours at home and Joshua would not wake up, we had to take him back to the hospital. While they were in right after the birth, the nurses said they would have to take him back to the nursery and have his blood sugar checked if he went 6 hours without eating. Well, before we were discharged the first time, we kept telling the nurses that every time Jamie tried to feed him someone would come and take him away for some test, a circumcision, or some blood work. By the time we finally got him back, they were discharging us. When we told them he had not eaten in over 8 hours, they told us not to worry about it, you can feed him at home. Well, we got home and had to bring him back a few hours later when he just would not stay awake and started choking on his own vomit (which was nothing but bile by this time). The hospital checked his blood sugar and found it to be 30, which was below the danger point. They admitted him to the nursery, and allowed Jamie to sleep in one of the unused rooms so she could be with the baby and continue nursing. The nursery nurses were very kind and worked with Jamie, showing her exactly how to nurse and working with her through all the feedings. Jamie knew it was a learning experience for both mother and baby, but did not know just how frustrating it really was. After a few feedings, battles, and 3 hours feeding sessions, the nurses told Jamie that since Joshua was so early and tiny that his mouth might not be big enough. After 2 months of trying, we are now fully on formula. At least he got some of the best food on earth!
Poor Joshua, with his tiny mouth, and Jamie's milk not yet in, he just wasn't getting the nourishment he needed. So the nurses supplemented with formula as well, so we could keep up Joshua's blood sugar. Jamie pumped; Jamie tried to get Joshua to latch on. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. The whole ordeal was very stressful and frustrating. But Joshua was getting his nourishment. The doctor released him on Friday and we finally had an entire evening with our little man at home.
We have a monitor that detects motion as well as sound. If the baby is motionless for more than 20 seconds, the alarm will sound. This is supposed to help prevent SIDS. We believe this monitor has saved Joshua’s life on 4 occasions now. Joshua has fallen so deeply asleep a few times, that he stopped breathing. Every time, the alarm has gone off and we both run to wake him up and make sure everything is ok. This is the worst fear for any new parent. But we are very grateful that we have this monitor.
A long time ago, Anthony and Jamie decided that one parent will stay home with our children rather than both of us working and putting the children in day care. Well, that day arrived on January 6th, 2003. Jamie had to return to work. Anthony quit his job to be Mr. Mom. This was the best situation all around since Jamie brought home more, to include the medical insurance. But, Jamie misses her baby. Maybe one day, Anthony will be able to return to work and Jamie can stay home. Anthony is enjoying being Mr. Mom though, even on those trying days.
Currently, Jamie is looking for another job. We would really like to move closer to my parents so Jamie has been putting her resume out to a lot of companies in Florida. She did have a phone interview with a company in Ft. Gordon, GA. She is not sure this one is right for her. She also had a phone interview with a job up in Washington DC. We are praying she hears something very soon from someone in Florida, though. Keep your fingers crossed. We never planned on staying very long in Texas. And, we did fall in love with Florida. So, Jamie is doing her hardest to find something soon.
On that note, I will close for now. Again, I am sorry it took so long to get this out, but as you can see we were very busy, and still are with the new baby. If you have access to the Internet, be sure to stop by http://www.we3dements.com and check out our website. We have our email addresses as well. Anthony@we3dements.com and jamie@we3dements.com. You can get us faster this way than waiting form us to send you something in the regular mail. Take care and have a great year!
Love,
Anthony, Jamie and Joshua “Peanut”