Tamyra's Birth Story

I feel like there isn't much to say in the way of recounting Tamyra's birth story. I think I feel this way because there were so few unknown variables surrounding her birth. We knew the time, the place, the means of getting her out, her gender, her name...the only thing that we didn't know is how she and I would make it out of surgery and what she would look like.

Everything went exactly as planned. The surgery was scheduled to begin at 7:45am so, we (me, my husband, and my parents) arrived at the hospital at 5:30am as instructed. My parents went directly to the waiting area while I checked in and immediately went to be prepped for surgery. They monitored the baby, started my IV, and my husband and I really just tried to stay awake. We hadn't had much sleep...not because of the anticipation of the baby but, because he was having sinus issues all night and I had woken up at 2am to him trying to turn our bathroom into some type of steam bath or something.

Anyway, we hung out for quite a while, waiting on our surgery time. My doctor came and posed for pictures with my husband, which was a nice distraction. Then it was time for me to go to the operating room. Okay, I was just a little freaked out by the fact that I just walked into the OR, just like the people who were going to be cutting me open and such. When Jayla was born, I had been in labor for 13 hours and had an epidural, so they rolled me in a bed into the OR. This time it was more like, "here's a seat...why don't you just sit here on this table?". I sat. The nursed immediately put me into some kind of headlock (no warning that I remember) that made my spine curvy enough for the epidural. Immediately, my lower body started going numb to the point that I had a little difficulty bringing my legs up to actually lay down on the table.

I soon got the dreaded "I can't swallow...I am going to die right here on this table!" sensation that sent me into an absolute panic during Jayla's c-section. I was so proud of how I handled it this time though. Instead of screaming at the doctors and trying to run off the table, I just closed my eyes and focused on breathing. The anesthesiologist kept asking me if I was okay. Admittedly, as I closed my eyes to breathe, I immediately started falling asleep. My doctor finally responded to him - "oh, she's fine...her husband just kept her up all night with a sinus infection".

There wasn't much conversation going on in the operating room despite the fact that there were at least 10 people in the room. My husband held my hand the whole time and I drifted in and out of sleep. I remember some guy jumping up on my stomach to push Tamyra out. That was my clue that...hello - my second child was about to be born. I remember not hearing her cry. I remember my doctor saying, "Sorry to disturb your nap, little one!" So, I chalked the not crying up to the fact that she was sleeping. But, my husband said the doctor pulled Tamyra out, quickly showed her to him, and then handed her over so that she could be stimulated because she hadn't cried yet. And even though I still hadn't heard her cry after what seemed like forever, I wasn't worried for whatever reason. I was still focusing on not becoming hysterical over the choking sensation that the dreadful anesthesia makes me feel.

I finally heard her cry. I didn't breathe any sigh of relief. I remember the cry sounding very weak. I remember my doctor asking what her second Apgar score was, which worried me a little...because I didn't hear the answer (it was a 9). Soon, my husband was bringing Tamyra over to me. He laid her in my arms and all I saw was the enormity of her cheeks. I did not cry, though I had fully expected that I would. I was far too relieved and already rejoicing in feeling so much more comfortable in my skin than I had been in those last weeks of sharing my body with her. I tried to figure out who she looked like - with no luck. We stared at each other for an eternity before they took her away and took me to recovery.

She's Here!

Tamyra Jade was born Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 7:57am. 8 pounds. 20 inches. Beautiful.

Easter Weekend 2009

We had a great weekend...complete with all-day pajamas, naps for mama, and plenty of nesting time for daddy. I think while we were doing all of that, Jayla was either watching DVDs or sliding her stuffed animals down the stairs in a laundry basket. Seriously, she did that for about an hour (either Friday or Saturday - I can't remember which day because they were mostly indistinguishable from each other). I asked her why FaFa (her pink, stuffed cat) wasn't in the laundry basket with "everyone else" and she explained that it was because FaFa hadn't paid her money. That cracked me up because I always tell Jayla we can't do stuff because we haven't paid the money to do so.

Anyway, we managed to get out on Friday evening and buy Jayla a new movie at Barnes & Noble because that was the only request she had for the entire day. And considering she was patient enough not to show any signs of cabin fever when we were still wearing our pajamas at 4:00pm, I thought she deserved it. Then we headed to dinner and finally, Good Friday service at church. I let Jayla watch her entire new Barbie movie when we got home so that she didn't go to bed until 10:45 or so....which was awesome because we didn't hear from her until 9:00 Saturday morning. Entirely worth it.

Saturday, daddy continued cleaning like a maniac, mama napped and complained about the inability to move without aching, and no one is quite sure what Jayla was doing. But, she never complained and seemed to keep coming up with things to entertain herself. I know at one point she was dusting the TVs and the piano. But, I seriously don't know what she did with the rest of her day. Saturday evening, we had friends over for pizza and chatting. Jayla had an absolute blast as there were 2 other children here that she played with all night. We didn't leave the house at all on Saturday...except daddy went to pick up the pizza right before our guests arrived at 6:00. We even had a surprise visit from my sister who randomly showed up around 7:45 or so. Needless to say it was almost 11:00 again by the time we got Jayla in the bed. She and her Tee-Tee can't really get enough of each other!

And finally, we had a great Easter Sunday. We went to church, of course. And when we returned home, I showed Jayla her "Easter stuff". We haven't really introduced the whole Easter Bunny concept (or Santa Claus, for that matter) but, my mom and sister had bought Jayla enough stuff that I just decided to present it to her when we got home from church. She knows the stuff came from Grandma and Tee-Tee. But, she was really only concerned with the candy. And my mom bought us some Easter mugs as a craft, so the four of us worked on those after lunch. It was much cleaner that dyeing eggs and it actually got us doing something as a family. I, of course, left everyone up finishing their mugs while I got started on my Sunday nap. Dinner out (sense a theme here?) and a trip to the park rounded out our evening.

All in all, the weekend was great...relaxing and lots of time together. Next weekend will not be as carefree nor is it a long weekend so, I'm glad we had this one together because, well, we've only got one more weekend before we become a family of four. And now, the pictures:

Sheer determination at the Easter egg hunt last weekend.

Checking out her loot.

Modeling her Good Friday outfit. Have I mentioned that Jayla thinks she's a runway model? Because she does.

Easter morning before church.

In the car on the way to church...the only time she doesn't feel compelled to
"strike a pose" apparently.

See what I mean? Diva style...on the church alter, no less.

Discovering her Easter gifts. But, playing it cool because as she REPEATEDLY told us this weekend, "I'm cool."

Working diligently on the picture to go into her Easter mug.

Mama and Jayla's finished mugs (with Tee Tee still working on hers in the background). I didn't take a picture of daddy's and Tee-Tee's mugs because...well, I had gone to take a nap by the time they finished!

Interview with Jayla (3.5 years old)

I've seen a couple of blogs lately where the moms asked their kids a series of questions and posted them. I thought it'd be interesting to see if (a) Jayla would even stay in one place long enough to let me get through the questions and (b) what is going on in her little head!

So, Saturday, I sat her on (the little bit that is left of) my lap and we quickly ran through some questions that I snagged (don't remember which blog it was from). I think she let me get through the questions because she was intrigued by the fact that I was typing what she said. It was fun to do and it was very obvious that she was really trying to get the "right" answer to some of the question...until the end where she just got silly and was quite done with the whole project. So, anyway, here's her interview...

1. What is something mommy always says to you?

"Ummmm…booga bear" [That is one of my many nicknames for her]

2. What makes mommy happy?

"Ummmmm…a smile"

3. What makes mommy sad?

"Ummmmm…not going to you." [She had just gotten in trouble for not coming to me when I call her name. She likes to ignore folks.]

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?

"with a secret on the ears" [She loves to pretend like we're telling each other secrets. We do alot of whispering nonsense in each other's ears these days.]

5. What did your mommy like to do when she was a child?

"she liked to do things that are really good…is that right, mama?" [She wanted validation that she was right on this question. I think her answer comes from me telling her most mornings that I want her to do good things at school and not bad things.]

6. How old is your mommy?

"Ummmm…twenty-ummmm…twenty-thirty? That’s how old you are?" [I had no idea how she would answer this question because we only ever talk about how old she is...not how old I am. So, I was actually impressed by her answer. She probably remembers the "30" part from my birthday party a few weeks ago.]

7. How tall is your mommy?

"Ummmm..this tall!" [She stretches her arms as far as they will go and then almost toppled off my lap.]

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?

"Ummmm…family" [The husband and I have been watching alot of old videos from her babyhood lately. I'm assuming that where this came from.]

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?

"Ummmm…watch TV" [Okay, so some days, I don't turn the TV off before I go get her from school. So, she comes home and yes, the TV is on. But, that's certainly not all that I do when she's not around...]

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?

"pasta" [No clue on this one. She was being silly. I think this is about when Daddy came into the room.]

11. What is your mommy really good at?

"watching tv…is that right?" [She may have gotten me confused with Daddy at this point. I'm actually a horrible TV watcher. It just doesn't hold my interest...no matter what it is.]

12. What is your mommy not very good at?

"not very good at careful…is that right?" [No idea...unless she thinks I'm a klutz.]

13. What does your mommy do for her job?

"Ummmm…work on her computer" [Right on, baby.]

14. What is your mommy 's favorite food?

"Ummmm…pasta" [Dead wrong, sweetheart. Chicken, pizza, skittles, cake - all of these would have been much more suitable answers. I have no idea why pasta was on her mind that day.]

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?

"Ummmm…hamburger" [Again with the silly.]

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?

"she would be a monster" [Thanks, baby.]

17. What do you and your mommy do together?

"Ummmm…walk" [Very true...although we probably read more than we walk.]

18. How are you and your mommy the same?

"just black" [I loved this answer for some reason. She was just so matter-of-fact about it.]

19. How are you and your mommy different?

"Ummmmm…orange…I mean, pinkilicious" [What!?!? And who taught my child the word "pinkilicious"? I should've followed-up on this one to clarify which one of us is the pinkilicious one.]

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?

"Ummmmm…hug you" [And, of course, she reached out and hugged me at that point.]

21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy?

"Ummmm…trees" [Yeah...that's it.]

22. Where is your mommy 's favorite place to go?

"Ummmm…to the park?" [Not at all. That would be Jayla's favorite place to go. I'm just along for the ride! But, at least she posed her response as a question back to me. So, maybe I can give her the benefit of the doubt.]

Random St. Patrick's Day

AKA Happy 31st wedding anniversary to my parents (the math technically works since I was born a full 11 months and 6 days after the date that they've led me to believe is their anniversary)

AKA Happy "the husband doesn't have to wear his finger splint 24/7 anymore" Day

And one other random tidbit...Jayla is brilliant. Yes, we all know that. She takes after her mother. And, in all seriousness, I pay people a good portion of my take home pay each month to teach her things. So, most days I get a little surprise nugget of the random knowledge in my child's head that I nor my husband has taught her. I wasn't particularly impressed when I found out that she knows the difference between odd and even numbers earlier this week. But yesterday's tidbit actually impressed me, which is not an easy feat. She had a one-dollar bill that she'd fished out of her piggy bank and randomly asked me if that was George Washington on the bill. Do you know how many adults don't even know that!?!?