Happy Birthday Jackie~

This is a picture of her last year on her 3rd birthday!


Jackie is 4 today! May 14,2009
She was born on a warm Saturday afternoon 6 days after mothers day in May 2005.
She was a planned home birth (my 2nd) Jackie was our first girl after 4 boys.
The smell of roses filled the room and everyone was all eyes to see her birth.
The kiddos all had their own camera to take pictures.




~~~~~~~ Jacqueline Rose


This is her birth story~

Jacqueline Rose was 4 days late and gave us quite a scare when she stopped moving 2 days before her birth! We were filled with fear but a ultra sound gave us some reassurance things were going ok! She barley passed the test, but there was a heart beat and some movement, that was good news for us. It was difficult but we tried to rest easy.
My water broke(Fri.)at about 8pm a few hours after my ultra sound. Painful contractions started later that night but never took on a regular pattern until about 11am the next morning. My midwife came over about 10 am and stayed through the birth (about 4:30pm Sat.)

Jacqueline Rose was born May 14 at about 2pm in the afternoon. She was 9#11oz

She was beautiful! Her eye were open...the soft music was playing. Then the neighbor boy yelled up to the open window...when can Jacob(8) come back out! Hee Hee
After all it was a warm Saturday afternoon and there was playing to do!
The joys of a home birth!

My mother in law made me a nice lunch and a fruit smoothie! She made some steak soup to have for dinner later if we got hungry. Hubby thanked her for all her help and said, she should go home for the night. He thought he could take care of the rest of the night until she came back in the morning. Boy was he wrong!

The birth was physically hard on me and I was relieved when it was over.
We finally had a girl in the family (God planned her for us). We always left the door open to more kiddos, but she took us by surprise. God knew what we needed!

Everyone had gone home...it was just me,hubby(Carl) and the kiddos. Carl was trying to give the boys their bath.....when trouble began to show its ugly face. Things started to go wrong. Nick(5) was right by my side the whole time!

The next day(Sun.)I had plans! It was to be a fun day bathing the baby and taking pictures. I wanted all the kiddos to help and have fun getting to know their new sister. I knew they would enjoy helping with her first bath! The plan was to get a good nights rest and feel refreshed in the morning! Then have a relaxing day with family and good food! And ooggle over the new baby! That never happened.....
little did I know what was going on in my body and what was about to happen just 6 hrs. after Jackie's birth!



Hubby with Nick(5) and Jackie a few hours old!
I looked terrible so I cropped myself out! Nick was by my side through labor ,delivery and after! He got to cut the cord! He was curious about the whole thing and was the most excited about having a baby in the house! (Nick has a orchestra concert tonight and wants to have the group do Happy Birthday for his sister)He brought me a banana to eat after the birth and summoned his dad when I was going into shock and in need of a
911 call!

I started to hemorrhage at about 7:30pm that night while in the bathroom. We called the midwife to see what to do. She told hubby to massage my uterus. We thought all was good! But...
About 1hr later Jackie was crying and would not latch on so I sat up get in a better position to feed and I felt a BIG gush. I heard a REALLY LOUD WHISTLING in my ears...... fell back and blacked out for a second then went into convolutions!
I was in FULL shock!
I was hot one minute then cold and shaking the next! I told my husband to call 911 and get me an ambulance!

My hubby was in disbelief! Yes...his wife needed a ambulance!
His mom had gone home for the night and things were not calm!
911 was called and he tried to sound calm as the kiddos were all watching.
Carl my husband then called his mom to hurry back over!

My husband,baby and Mother in Law followed in hubby's truck. (the sun roof glass broke and caved in all over the three of them before they drove off). The glass must have had a fracture? No one was hurt...Jackie was wrapped in her blanket. It was just a big mess and slowed them up from following the ambulance!

I was given a double IV and pumped with fluids and pitocin to contract my uterus and get the bleeding to stop! It was like being in labor all over again!
I tried to breastfeed my crying baby but it was not working! Jackie just flailed around and was very upset!
The nurse said, my body is not giving food for the baby right now because it was in survival mode! Jackie was put on a bottle. I was sad! This was far from the peaceful night I had planned with my new baby!

The nurses kind of snubbed me for "having a home birth gone bad". They kind of snickered at me as though this would not have happened if I had be in the hospital the whole time! This could have happened in a hospital too. Having a home birth did not have anything to do with it.

The doctor and I decided she would not give me a blood transfusion but let my body do the work to rebuild my blood supply. There is always a risk when getting someone elses blood.
My crit was 24 so....
I should expect to be extra tired and dizzy. Not to drive the car for a few weeks!
I was in tears as I hurt every where and had a baby I could not feed! I felt helpless!
I stayed on the labor and delivery floor for 2 days. I pumped my milk and got back on track with breastfeeding.
My baby was not a patient so the nurses did nothing to help take care of her. Jackie was 4 days old before she got her first bath! She was beginning to smell funny!
I was traumatized!

Then.......

I was only home for 10 days when I was having collar bone pain and difficulty breathing when I was laying down. We called the OB doc that I was assigned to in the hospital.

She told me to go straight to the ER as I was having a PE...pulmonary embolism. That blood clots were the #1 killer of women that have just had a baby!

I was scared and full of fear! I was in a lot of PAIN! My symptoms been going on for 36 hrs and getting worse before we called the doctor.

I was admitted through the ER and stayed in the hospital for 5 days in the critical care unit! The pain was unbelievable and I had a high fever. My body was twitching with pain.

I did not have the strength to even hold my new baby! The whole right side of my body was swollen. I could not lift my right arm! Breastfeeding was out....for now at least!

My husband stayed in the chapel(because the lights were dim for sleeping). He tied the string from his sweat pants to her carrier. I told him nobody better steal her while he was sleeping or else!
He and the baby could not sleep in my room because I had to share it with a old lady.
So he and Jackie stayed the entire 5 days I was there sleeping nights in the chapel! My husband is an Awesome man!

My husbands mom and dad were back at the house taking care of the rest of the kiddos.
They were a life saver! We were truly thankful for them. My mom was not able to fly up from Arizona because she was recovering from surgery. This was the only birth she had to miss! :(

I was put on 6 months of Coumadin (blood thinner) and had to get my blood numbers (CCI&R) tested every 3 days. I had to get a full blood draw each time at the hospitals lab. I was waiting for an opening at the Coumadin clinic (8week wait). At the clinic its like a diabetic finger prick! My veins were getting so sore!

I was told by the lung doctor breastfeeding my baby was out! (because Coumadin is rat poison). But the lactation consultant checked her books and said,it was fine. I was relieved. It did take hard work to get back on track with breastfeeding but I did it. I would not except anything else!
I rented the hospitals double pump. It cut my time in half...it was $26.00 for the month and was so worth it. I only needed it for that first month!

We have all come a long way from the day I lay in a hospital bed wondering if I would live!
Wondering who would watch my daughter grow up I it were not me? Who would watch her twirl in her dress when she was three? Who would teach her to cook and play doll house with her?

I cried out to God that night.....I don't want to die! I don't want to die! The nurses had to come in and comfort me. I could here my new baby down the hall crying for her momma. Hungry with no bottles or food! My husband in shock of what to do.
I sent the nurses down to help him! They took him over to labor and delivery for some help.

I truly thank God every day for my life and for the life of my kiddos and husband. God can take us at any time! I treasure every moment with them.
Jackie is a true delight to this family and is often featured on my blog! i just love her so much...words can't really describe the great JOY she brings to me and this family!


(pictured is Noah(2) and Myself with Jackie(1 week old)

Well it has been 4 years and another blessing later (Olivia Oct.07) and life is good! Jackie has 4 brothers and a baby sister to play with and love.

With all that I had gone through after the birth of Jackie in 2005,family and friends were very shocked that we would have yet another child (Olivia Oct.07).

We believe children are a blessing! We are happy with our family but would gladly welcome anymore blessings God would like to give us!
We were happy God blessed us with Olivia in 2007 ....I told Jackie God gave her this sister! They will have each other through life if I'm not there!
That is comforting to me and makes me happy!


Happy Birthday Girl!

You are truly a blessing to this family!

Warmly,

Georgiann....Mommy