Happy Birthday, Jacqueline!

It was 9 years ago today that I was pregnant and woke up early in the morning with what felt like a little tug in my back, but it was so slight that I turned over and went back to sleep.  When I fully woke up once the sun rose, I discovered I had spotted slightly.  Still two or three weeks shy of my due date, I asked Rob to take me to the hospital just in case, given that my pregnancy was considered a high risk one.  We left Thomas with our niece Amanda and headed to Hamilton.  At McMaster, they hooked me up to a monitor and listened to my baby's heartbeat.  Three hours later, they told me that I had just had a false alarm and was free to go home.  I asked them if I could still go out of town the next day for the Tufts Family Picnic and they said yes.  Back in Brantford, I packed for the trip and then laid down for a couple of hours, hoping that would do the trick.  However, when I woke up at supper time, my water broke.  Back to the hospital we went for a second time (luckily Amanda was still at home to babysit Thomas).  This time, I had labour pains on the way to the hospital.  Sure enough, the doctor said that the baby was on its way.  I arrived at 8 pm, they prepped me for a C-section by 9 pm and Jacqueline Lee was born at 9:41 pm.  She weighed 6 pounds and 1 ounce and was 17 inches long.  She had tufts of black hair and dark blue eyes.  Her fingers were long as were her eye lashes.  I remember how holding a baby girl felt different than holding a baby boy even though they both had the same needs.  Baby Jonasson was the loudest baby in the nursery:  the nurses kept bringing her to me saying that she was hungry and I would say:  "I just fed her half an hour ago."  I remember feeling such relief that she had arrived safe and sound.  I also remember feeling so fatigued; I would fall asleep with Jacqueline on my chest after I fed her.  I remember feeling envious of my roommates, both of whom got a good night's sleep because their babies were being cared for fulltine by the nurses in the ICU (a crazy thought since I should have been happy that my baby didn't have to go to ICU).  I remember Rob making a trip to the gift shop downstairs to purchase Jacqueline's first of many stuffies, a pink Teddy bear.  I remember Jacqueline's first photograph, taken with her eyes closed and her arms in a hula dancer pose.  I remember Thomas arriving wearing his t-shirt that announced "I'm the big brother" and holding his baby sister in his arms with a proud and yet impish grin on his face.  I remember it all like it was yesterday.  And yet our "baby" is nine years old today.  Thank you, Jacqueline, for being our daughter.  We love you!  Happy Birthday!

Baby girl photo courtesy www.littlies.co.nz.