Being a 1 week old is hard work!

The last week Jadeyn has had some fun times. She's been to the pediatrician twice, made a Target run and checked out her new stroller, visited one of the grandparents house for Sunday lunch and made lots of new friends. Her first pediatrics visit, we were told she has lost too much weight. Shame on mommy and that crazy spinal headache. We worked very hard over the weekend to get lots of food and Monday morning, we went back for another evaluation. Dr. Garrison was very pleased with her weight gain! She was back to where she should be at 6lbs, 10 oz! We have a 3rd visit with our regular pediatrician, Dr. Crittenden (thanks heather!) next Monday, so praying for another good report! Sunday was another fun afternoon. She got loved on by her uncle Erik who even fed her! She also took her first steps! ...with a little help from daddy. Grrrpa got it all on video, so that may be another post later on. Jimmy is determined to have her walking by 6-7 months because that's when her Great Uncle Lee started walking...we'll see about that.

Last night, she met baby Logan Reininger.

They are destined to be great friends. Logan's dad is the high school pastor at our church and she was born 24 days ahead of Jadeyn. It was funny to see the size differential and to realize what a difference 3 weeks makes. Logan's mom was a little sad to see how quick her baby is already growing up. It made me want to capture every single second I can with Jadeyn.

Jade has also discovered her tongue! She found this new body part on Tuesday and loves sticking it out and touching her fingers and the bottle nipple with it. It's really cute. A few other things to note: She seems to enjoy getting bathed and looks adorable in her little bath towel.

She likes sitting in her swing and in the boppy pillow. She sometimes likes the bouncer and the activity gym, but may be too small right now. She watched about 10 minutes of a baby einstein video yesterday, which is really good for her, considering she loves to sleep! She really hates diaper changes but who can blame her for that? She's done great at sleeping in her own crib and is almost impossible to wake up. I think if the doctor okayed it, she would gladly sleep 6-7 hours every night. I sorta wish that was ok! It's been pretty rainy and dreary here her first week, so we're looking forward to sunshine and getting to be outside sometime soon!

The Birth Story

Before time gets too much away and I forget, I want to write down the story of Jadeyn's birth. We checked in to Lakeside Women's Hospital on Sunday, April 26 at 7pm, after a yummy meal at Johnnies. My doctor wanted to start cervadil on me Sunday night to help soften the cervix to prepare for labor/delivery on Monday. Sunday night was pretty uneventful. We had a ton of papers to sign and frankly, that evening was the most uncomfortable part of labor. Putting the cervadil in was NOT FUN and they had to get the IV started also. A very bad experience if you ask me. My poor nurse (she was so sweet, but it was her first night) and she just couldn't get my IV in. She started trying on my arm, but the vein kept moving, so she decided to do it in my hand. Ok, hand is pretty much made up of just bones - not a fun place to get poked and prodded. So she tried sticking me two different times and I just bled and bled. Finally, her superior came in and tried my other arm and got it in the first time. I tried not to say anything because I didn't want the first nurse to feel bad or get in trouble, but boy, was I glad when the IV finally worked! After that, I got set up with a monitor on my belly to track contractions and Jadeyn's heartrate. Suprisingly enough, I was actually contracting (about 10 minutes apart) but had no idea. I got to take some really good sleeping pills and slept great Sunday night. Jimmy didn't get the greatest rest, but he did alright. My parents came to visit for an hour or so that night also. Then, early Monday morning, they woke me up to take a shower and get ready for the biggest day of our lives so far! We started the pitocin about 6am and we could see the contractions coming. I still never felt any, but decided to ask for the epidural about 9am, because frankly, I just didn't want to experience one. Jimmy said the needle for the epidural was ridiculously long, but the doctor did a good job of keeping it hidden from my view and it didn't hurt too bad going in. After that, the contractions got stronger and quicker and the epidural was my best friend. We had our family (all the grandparents, one great-grandparent, aunts/uncles) arrive and had a long wait. After not a lot of progress and a few scares, my doctor came in about 5pm and said we should start thinking about a c-section because I was still only dialated to a 4 and not progressing like I should be. I didn't really care either way, honestly. Jimmy was out of the room and I think I said "ok". After that, literally, nurses and the anesthegeolgist came in and got me prepped and I was in the surgery room in like 10 minutes I think. I remember seeing my parents and they both kissed me I think. I never saw Jimmy - they said he was getting dressed. I had to drink some awful tasting liquid, which I threw up before the surgery. Once I was laid on the table, everything was fine. Jimmy came in and I saw the curtain go up. One doctor was behind my head talking to me and I think I just made a lot of jokes and he kept saying he wished other patients were as calm and laid-back as Jimmy and I both appeared. It really was weird. I could not feel a thing, but I was very much aware that there were hands in my stomach area pulling a baby out. I don't know how to explain it. And it happened so quick. I remember wanting to hear a babies cry so badly and when I heard it I was just really excited. They told Jimmy he could look and I heard him go "Whoa". hahhaa, it was cute. The nurses kept reminding Jimmy to take pictures and then asked him to go take a picture of when she was being weighed. They held Jadeyn up over the curtain to show me her, but I don't remember thinking much except that she wasn't covered in as much goop as I had pictured and I was relieved. I think somewhere in there we had our first family picture, but I don't remember it. I must have been out of it, because I really don't remember anything until about 8:30 or so. Jadeyn Rose was born at 5:33 p.m., so the surgery really did happen fast. Although it technically wasn't an emergency c-section, I am under the impression it was sorta important to get her out because her heartrate had dropped significantly twice in about 30 seconds at one point, and that was when Dr. Hall came in and suggested the c-section. I gave her props though because I didn't sense anything was wrong, so she handled it all well! The next few days in the hospital were fine. We got a little ansy and were ready to go home on Thursday. Unfortunately, we were soon back in the hospital early Friday morning because I ended up with a spinal headache (which is the worst pain I have ever experienced - yes, worse than the cervadil and IV combined). But they fixed me right up with a blood patch and the headache went away immediately. Doctors are truly amazing. Since then, life has been good. I'm convinced Jadeyn is the sweetest, most laid-back, peaceful, and adorable little baby ever made : ) We've had some ups and downs with feeding and I think I've experienced some crazy post-partum hormone stuff, but we've had some great support from family and friends. Jimmy is the world's best daddy. He is head over heels in love and it's obvious to anyone who is around him for 2 minutes. This was way longer than I intended, but I'm sure I'll appreciate having it written down in detail years later. Yay for those of you who actually read it all!
Jadeyn, we love you more than we ever thought we were capable of, little one. More than our love for you, how great the love of the Father is for you. Thank you Jesus, for loaning us this precious baby girl. We recognize she is not ours, but yours and you have intrusted us with her. May we honor you with how we raise her and how we live our lives as a family. Please start drawing her to yourself early on. Please call her name, Jesus.

introducing miss jadeyn rose quinn

Jadeyn was born Monday evening, April 27 at 5:300 p.m. via c-section. She was 7lbs, 6 oz and 20 1/4 inches long, lots of dark hair and blue eyes! Stories to come later, but for now here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

jadeyn's completed nursery

We did it! We finally finished the bedroom. I can't believe it's done with 12 days left until she's due. Jimmy did an amazing job dealing with my "painting perfection-ism". Enjoy the pictures!

weekly appointments have started!

at 36 weeks in pregnancy, you start having to go to the doctor every single week! i'm not sure what all they do, but i do know they will check my cervix every week to see if/how far i'm dialated and how effaced i am. i have no idea what this means, but i do know if you are 100% effaced and dialated to a 10, that baby is coming. so, yesterday jimmy and i made our trek to first, the ultra sound to try and determine size and position and then to the regular appointment. the ultra sound was uncomfortable b/c i had to go to the bathroom the whole time! they make you come in with a full bladder and then she just kept pushing on my stomach the whole time. i couldn't really focus on the tv b/c i just kept thinking, hold it in, don't go to the bathroom here! we did learn some fun facts though. we're still confident she's a girl! she weighs 5.14 already! and it sounds like she has a lot of hair! which is no shock, but it was still fun to see the light sqiggles on the head, showing hair follicles. the pictures seemed to show that half of her head has barely any hair and the other side has hair already 1/2 inch long...so yeah, we're pretty interested in seeing just what this little girls head of hair looks like! we were suprised to find out she was almost 6 lbs already. just based off my stomach size, we really thought she was only like 4 1/2 lbs...so now i'm nervous that we'll have a fatty greeting us in late april. my doctor has given her word she won't be big though...i hope she's right! we also learned she is "head down" so that's a plus, as long as she stays that way for another month.
as far as the regular appointment went, dr. hall checked my cervix and it was a bit uncomfortable. she said i wasn't dialated at all yet. bad sign in my mind if jadeyn is already 6 lbs.
our nursery is almost finished! i'll be posting pics in just a couple weeks, i hope! we have a couple more showers to get through and then i'll be showing off the room : )

Spring Break

Jimmy had a great spring break trip! He took 11 or so students down to Port Arthur, TX to serve that community after the hurricane hit last year. They went down with a few other Oklahoma groups and worked with a missions project called Nehemiah's Vision. The first day they spent most of the afternoon pulling up weeds on a sidewalk and earned lots of blisters from that. However, the rest of the week was spent helping to renovate a family's home that was badly damaged b/c of the hurricane. He said the students were awesome - everyone got along, had some good laughs. Overall, it was a really great trip - quite different from his spain 75 mile walk last year though! It's so great to work in a church that serves Jesus through so many different avenues. We feel so fortunate! Here's a short write up Jimmy did that was posted on the church's website last week that describes in more detail the trip. And some pictures too!

Over spring break, we took a group of college students to Port Arthur, TX to help with the hurricane devastation from Hurricane Ike in 2008. Our students worked hard despite blisters, being eaten by fire ants and even stepping on nails! We spent most of our time helping a young family restore parts of their home that was damaged by the hurricane. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, this family fled to Port Arthur, not realizing they would experience another devastating hurricane a few years later. On the family's home, we managed to redo the roof, paint the exterior of the house, plywood and sheetrock a weathered room, fix some other odd jobs and most importantly, minister to this young family by sharing with them God's unconditional love. The best part of the trip was seeing the friendship that was developed between our students and this family and knowing we made an eternal impact on them. The father considers us his family and will be vacationing in Oklahoma soon! Please keep this family of six in your prayers.

"deweeding" the sidewalk

youngest boy wanting to help

re-painting siding of house

Go girls! freezing boys boxers

the group with John's family of 6

a weekend of firsts!

Jimmy and I had a pretty fun weekend! First off, the college girls were super sweet and threw me and Jadeyn a baby shower. We played a number of different games, opened gifts, ate lots of yummy chocolate and had cake. Jimmy and I both feel so fortunate to be able to work with the group of kids we do. They are tons of fun, love Jesus with everything that is in them and have a huge passion to see the lost come to the Lord. Here's some pics of the shower last Friday. Some of the games consisted of smelling a "poopy" diaper that had different types of melted chocolate bars in them, smelling 4 different baby food jars and finally, tearing off toilet paper and trying to get it the length of my belly size. It was a lot of fun. Enjoy!

Our next "first" of the weekend was our childbirth class! We opted for the marathon, so we knocked out a 3 week class in one long Saturday. It's nice to have it over and done with, and although it was fairly boring...it was good information to have. Now I feel even stronger about getting an epidural because that video we saw of the birth did not look fun! We watched the delivery right before lunch - not sure if I would have rather seen it before or after lunch. Either way was not good. We learned a lot of the "hee, hee, hoo" breathing techniques and Jimmy got in lots of practice on giving good back massages. He can't complain too much - our teacher loved him and actually gave ONLY HIM a back massage to demonstrate! hmmm. It made for a long day, but then we celebrated by going to lobsterfest at Red Lobster which was a treat.

Be praying for Jimmy. He leaves next week to lead a trip to Galveston to do hurricane relief from last summer/fall.