Introducing...

JOEY FRANCES JORDAN
April 14, 2010
1:29 pm
7 lbs 11 oz
20 inches




The story:
Tuesday night (4/13), we dropped Shelby off at our friends' house because we were supposed to be at the hospital really early the next morning. It was very sad for me for two reasons: 1) It was the first time ever that I would spend the night away from Shelby, and 2) I knew that the next time I saw her she would no longer be an only child. Not that I was sad that we were having Joey, I just didn't want this all to effect Shelby in a negative way.

That night I couldn't sleep. I had actually started to go into labor. I wasn't having contractions, but I was super crampy all night long. The next morning, we got a call from the hospital saying they needed me to wait to come in because they didn't have any beds. Ugh! I was so ready to get there! Anyway, we finally did get there and it was about 9:30 am when they got me hooked up to the Pitocin. I decided to try to wait on the epidural, but after about an hour of contractions, I'd had enough. So, I got the epidural and life was good again...for a bit. The nurse kept coming in telling me to switch sides. After switching 5 or 6 times, they put me on Oxygen because Joey's heart rate kept dropping. I was a little nervous because on top of that, when they broke my water, there was blood in the fluid. My doctor said not to worry, but of course, you do.

They checked me at about 1 pm and I was at 5 cm. Jeremy went out to make a phone call and get something to drink. I started feeling super strong contractions even though I'd had the epidural, so the anesthesiologist re-dosed me. At about 1:15 they checked me again and I was at 9 cm. They quickly called me doctor and started getting everything ready for me to push. I was freaking out a little because Jeremy still wasn't back. He walked in the door right before they had me do a practice push. Once I pushed my doctor, who didn't have gloves on or anything yet, said, "Um...Wait! Don't push anymore! Get me some gloves now!". I started pushing at about 1:26 and she was out at 1:29. My mom was watching via the Knocking Video app on our phones, and was so confused about what was going on because it happened so fast. It turns out that the cord was wrapped pretty well around Joey, but she is perfectly fine. She actually looked A LOT like Shelby at first- tons of dark hair, same nose, etc., but now I think she is already changing into her own little person.

These pics might be out of order:










Mom and Dad were here for a week, and I am so thankful for that! Mom kept saying she felt like she wasn't doing anything to help, but she did more than she knows. Just having them here for support meant a lot to us. And boy was it handy to have Grandpa here as a constant playmate for Shelby all week!

She is such a beautiful little girl. We love having her here. Today at church Jeremy and I were arguing over who got to hold her. And Shelby loves her so much. She gets a little jealous of how much attention I have to pay to Joey, but we are trying to do as much as we can to spend time with Shelby- take her on walks, do projects with her, etc.

Tomorrow will be my first day on my own. No mom and dad, no Jeremy. Wish me luck!