How It All Began...

On Monday September 8, 2008 at around 8:00 a.m. Jenna Ashley came into the world and made her presence from the start. Janice woke me up at around 5:15 a.m. and said her contractions had started at about 3:00 a.m. The doctors said she should come in when she called. We arrived at Lake East Hospital around 6:00 a.m. and she was already at 5cm dialated (the goal is 10cm) and by 8:00, here she was!!! 7lbs 5oz, 19"...and a real pistol. Wonder where she gets that???

She was born under "code pink" because the doctor noticed meconium, and they needed to get her airway clear of any that may have entered...nothing big, happens all the time. Funny that it was a code pink, because her brother has always said if we had a "girl baby," its name would be "pink." Of course he also said she would live in the treehouse...which we do not have. The mind of kids...

The doctors noticed, as we did, she had swelling on her hands and her feet and a few other features that tipped them off to do a little more investigation. Some of the symptoms they saw suggested Jenna may have Turner's Syndrome. Our doctors were absolutely fabulous, and ordered an echo cardiogram because one issue with the syndrome is heart conditions. The really scary thing is we could have taken Jenna home and never knew this condition existed... We do not even want to think about that!

The echo was sent all over the place and within seven hours of her birth, Jenna was on the Life Flight helicopter headed to the Cleveland Clinic. They noticed she had a narrow aortic arch, and would require heart surgery. We had a doctor drive in from Hillcrest Hospital to Lake East and explain the procedure and what was going on. He was wonderful to us and really gave us the "big crayon & coloring book" explanation.

Although they released Janice on Monday, we convinced her to stay at Lake East and get rest. We knew the next few days were going to be long and tough. I headed up to the Clinic with my parents to see Jenna and spend the night with her. She was admitted into the cardiac PICU. What a place. The doctors and nurses have been incredible. Many were stopping in to "see the new baby," and she has already won the hearts of so many. Other than her hands and feet, she looks and acts like any other baby. She slept on and off all night, and already is hooked on the "binki" just like her brother.

So that is how it all began. We have been overwhelmed by the prayers and calls of support for our new little baby. I decided to get this thing up and running because it will be a long few weeks and we want to keep you informed. There will be time for us to update the site because there is wireless access throughout the building and we can even do it from the room. We'll keep you updated as we can, and please keep the prayers coming!