introducing for the very first time...

...alright, folks, here is the news we've all been waiting for...everyone, i would like to introduce to you CADENCE JOY , the most beautiful baby girl we've ever laid eyes on! here's the 411...cadence joy was born on friday, sept. 24th, 2004 at 11:24 am at rush pres-st. luke hospital in chicago...she weighed 7lbs 4oz, measured 20.75 inches long, and had APGARs of 9 & 9...teddy & i and everyone who's met her think she's totally adorable, and we are head over heels for her...

...so here's what happened...thursday night, as you may know, i spent the night at the hospital again being monitored, except this time i knew that i wasn't going home in the morning...due to my elevated blood pressure and the low amniotic fluid level, my doctor was having me sectioned in the morning...i have to admit i was pretty scared of the surgery, even though by this time i had accepted it as the best thing to do for all parties involvled, esp. the baby...i had to make a list for teddy to go home and fetch because we hadn't gotten around to packing our bag for the hospital yet...we slept better than the last time, but it was still far from what i'd call a restful night...i was just so worried about the baby...i mean, low amniotic fluid sounds AWFUL...the baby's heartbeat was strong, though, and the doctors didn't seem too worried...they kept saying the baby looked beautiful on the monitors...

...friday morning, they got us started for the surgery around 9am...my doctor had several surgeries that morning besides mine, and they fit me into the schedule...i was scared to death of the anesthesia part because i knew that i'd had problems in the past with getting numbed...my body just doesn't react fast enough, and i was scared that maybe i wouldn't get numb all the way, and i wouldn't know until my doctor sliced me open...as it turns out, the anesthesia part WAS the most difficult...apparently, i have a very tight spine, and the doctors couldn't find a spot to put in the epidural...after a couple unsuccessful attempts that took an eternity (maybe almost an hour) during which i had to stay bent over and very still (almost impossible considering they keep the operating room at about the temperature of nova scotia in january), they finally gave up on the epidural and gave me a spinal, which numbs you instantly...then everything went very quickly, ted was finally next to me, and i hear the doctor say, 'i see butt', and a few moments later, WAAAAHHHH!!!!! the doctor announces it's a girl, and i about fall over cuz i totally thought it was gonna be a boy, and i'm like, 'REALLY? it's a girl??!!' but i'm so happy, and boy oh boy does she have a set of lungs! ted gets to go watch while they do the stuff they do to babies when they're first born, so i'm alone again for a little while, and that's when things got weird...i found i couldn't swallow, and i couldn't breathe too well, and i could feel myself losing consciousness...i didn't know what was going on, but i felt like if i let myself drift off, i might not come back so i fought hard to stay awake...turns out the spinal had moved higher up than it was supposed to and that's why i felt like i wasn't breathing (even though i was) and i couldn't use my muscles to swallow...when teddy came back w/ the baby, i was so out of it, but i got a chance to look at the baby before they wheeled me off to recovery...it took a while for the spinal to wear off enough so that i could swallow and breathe freely, and it seemed forever before teddy came back with the baby...they had been at the nursery giving baby a bath and other stuff they do to babies, like getting footprints and measurements and all that jazz...finally, we were done...

...we got moved to a postpartum room where we would spend the weekend...our baby got to room with us, so she didn't leave either ted or me for the whole time at the hospital...even though the anesthesia gave me a scare, i recovered pretty quickly from surgery otherwise...we really love all the staff at rush who cared for us during our stay...they went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and supported us as we got started as parents...they all gushed over cadence and made us feel like the proud mommy & daddy that we are now...

...oh, so saturday was my baby shower that ted's mom & sister threw...of course, i couldn't be there, but ted did represent for us, and he had a bunch of photos he'd taken of little cadence which he got to share, and every one was thrilled for us...

so that's the story in a nutshell...there's so much more, but i don't have the energy to tell it...we didn't decide on a name until i think sunday, so we're still getting used to it...most folks don't know what we're saying when we say her name is 'cadence', and i don't think my mom has got a full grasp on the name yet...basically, if you look up the word 'cadence' in the dictionary, you'd know why we chose that name...we decided on it because her hiccups and cries are so rhythmic...

...so now we're home, safe and sound...the apartment is a mess, but our family's helping us get the stuff together we need to take care of a baby... we're totally exhausted, and i admit i broke down and cried last night because it's really hard to take care of your baby the way you want to when you've got this big incision healing in your abdominal area, and every time you get up or sit down, it hurts like the dickens...all i want to do is hold little cadence and play with her, and i can't quite do that yet...and breastfeeding has been hard...she's actually developed a bit of jaundice from not eating well her first couple days, which is not uncommon with newborns whose livers are still immature...they sent us home w/ a biliblanket, which is a machine that emits UV light (which breaks down the bilirubin in the blood that gives jaundiced babies their yellow look) through a little pad that the baby has to wear until the bilirubin comes down to a normal level...so poor little cadence is tethered to this machine, and we've had to set up a little nest where we can eat, sleep, feed, change diapers, etc. within cord's reach from that machine....we go back to the pediatrician this afternoon for another test, and hopefully everything will be normal by then so we don't have to keep treating her w/ this UV lamp...

and i have to say that teddy is the best husband/father i could've ever hoped, wished, prayed, begged for...he's been totally taking care of our family, forgoing much beloved sleep and decent coffee & food, getting his hands dirty changing diapers, spending hours pouring love and care and affection over little cadence and me...i just know that cadence is gonna be a daddy's girl, and i can't wait to see their relationship blossom...

that's it for now...thanks to all of you for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers...we can't wait for you to meet our little bundle of cadence joy!