Little Look Alikes

Everyone wants to know or has their own opinion of who Jaelyn looks like. I just had to share some pictures of each of the girls during their week of life. It is unbelievable how much they all look alike at this stage.


Joleigh
Noelle
Jaelyn

Welcome Home

We stayed in the hospital Friday, Saturday and came home on Sunday afternoon. Joe and I couldn't wait to bring Jaelyn to her new home and finally be reunited with Joleigh and Noelle. It felt like we were away from them for too long. We got discharged from the hospital around 4:30.

My parents had watched Joleigh and Noelle for us, so our plan was to have them bring the girls to our house and we would be waiting for them to arrive. It was so good to be home and have a few minutes to unpack before they arrived. I was so excited to see them and see their reaction to having Jaelyn home.



As you can see, both Joleigh and Noelle are in love with their new baby sister. They seem so proud to be holding her. They are so interested in her, but don't smother her, just giving her her space. All I can say is so far so good!!! I love my girls!!!

Happy "Birth" Day

What a long day it was. We thought we were going to head to the hospital late Thursday night, but ended up getting called in at 1:00 am Friday morning when a bed was available. Joe and I were ready to go.

The girls stayed home with my sister, Jamie. We arrived, got settled into our room and began the induction process at 2:00 am. Everything was going fine, slow, but fine. We were waiting for my doctor to arrive, but he called and said to start the potocin, so I got my epideral around 8:30 am.


We waited patiently for my doctor to arrive, he thought he would be there around 10:00 am to break my water. He didn't end up making it until 3:00 pm. He had back to back deliveries and c-sections all morning. Needless to say I was getting a little impatient, but relieved when I saw him. Around 5:00 they checked and I was at an 8. Things were moving along pretty good, I thought. My doctor thought Jaelyn would make her arrival before 6:30, so I called my sister and had her bring the girls up to have dinner, so they could be the first to meet their new little sister. Joe's family had arrived and were patiently waiting.

So you can sense my disappoint when 6:30 rolled around and still no baby. I kind of went to a sad/depressed/angry/dark place around this time. I couldn't believe it was taking so long. I was sure that it wouldn't take as long as Noelle's labor and delivery, which was 11 hours, but we were starting to approach how long it took with Joleigh, 21 hours. At 7:30 they checked me again and I was only at a 9. So at 8:00 I told everyone to go home, that they could meet the baby the next today, you can tell I was still in my bad mood. I didn't want the girls to be there too late, so my sister and dad decided to take them back to my parents house and Joe's family was going to stick around for a few more minutes. That's when the doctor came in and said that I was still not at a 10, but the baby needed to come out. Her heart rate was dropping every time I had a contraction. So after that everything happened really fast!!! My mom got a hold of my family and told them to turn around and bring the girls back. It took only 3 contractions and hardly any pushing and Jaelyn made her entrance at 8:23 pm. What a day!!!




I do have to mention that there were a few complications for me throughout the day. I had some difficulty breathing after my epidural and when they broke my water. The doctors were concerned so they ordered an EKG, chest x-ray and after the delivery a cat-scan, to rule out anything serious. Everything came back fine, praise God!

Joe and my mom were in the delivery room with me, but Joleigh and Noelle were the first meet baby Jaelyn. Their reaction was priceless. They were so excited and so in awe. They immediately loved her!!!






Our families patience paid off and they got to quickly meet Jaelyn that night. We were all exhausted!


My good friend Brittany as came all the way from Rocky Point to meet Jaelyn on Friday, only to turn around and go back Saturday morning. It meant a lot that she came and I'm so glad that she got to spend some time with the baby.
It was a long, hard day, but it was completely erased when I saw her precious little face. God is so good to me and my family!!!

Happy Birthday Jaelyn!!!
Jaelyn Adelle Jensen
Born on February 20, 2009 at 8:23 pm
7 lbs. 12 oz., 21 in. long

She is almost here...

I wanted to share some of the beautiful pictures Joe took of me, the girls and my belly yesterday. I have always wanted to take pregnancy photos, but never did with the first two girls and time was running out for the third. I love them and think they are amazing!!! I will cherish them and this entire experience!

For those of you who don't know, we will be meeting our newest addition in 2 more days!!! We plan on going into the hospital some time late Thursday night or early Friday morning and Jaelyn should be here sometime on Friday. I'm hoping sometime in the late morning or early afternoon, but we will see. I'm doing and feeling great, surprisingly, just looking forward to seeing and holding my baby girl! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I will get pictures up as soon as possible. See you soon!

My 30th Birthday

I just have to say that I LOVE my birthday! I have ever since I was a little girl. I would start the count down right after New Years and would look forward to it with eager anticipation of what the day would bring. I have the BEST memories of my family and friends making my day so special.

This year was definitely different. I still was looking forward to the day, but it was so over-shadowed by the impeding birth of little Jaelyn, that I didn't want to have any expectations for an elaborate 30th birthday, not knowing how I would feel. Joe turned 30 last year and I remember that leading up to it, he was having a hard to with growing old(er), so I tried to prepare myself for this milestone. To be honest I haven't had that hard of a time with it. If anything getting to this age has made me realize just how truly blessed my life is and how I am right where I have always wanted to be.




The celebrating began on Thursday. Joe and I had a night out, just the two of us! My parents watched the girls so we could have the night to ourselves. We went to Flemings for dinner. Neither of us had ever been there and we had a gift card. It was so nice and the food was delicious. They even gave me chocolate covered strawberries for my birthday. After dinner we did a little shopping at Westgate and then I got to pick a movie, so we saw He's Just Not That Into You. It was pretty good, definitely made me appreciate my husband and the wonderful relationship we have. It was fun to get dressed up and feel pretty, even though I was 38 weeks pregnant.

Then on the Friday, the day of my birthday, I was greeted by my favorite people in the world, Joe and the girls, who sang me Happy Birthday and had a card for me. They were so sweet!!! We lounged around that morning, then went and had lunch at Chipotle.

After lunch, unfortunately we had to take Noelle to the doctor. She has been complaining for awhile about how much it hurt her when she peed and it was getting worse. When we called the doctor they immediately got her in. They needed to get a urine sample, but since Noelle is not yet potty trained, they had to give her a catheter. Let me tell you it was awful!!! They only let one parent in there, so I went and she was in so much pain, but seemed to recover pretty quickly once she got her strawberry lollipop. Anyway, I'm glad that they did the procedure, because she had a really bad infection. She is on antibiotics for a couple weeks, then they will have to go back and check to make sure it is gone and also determine why she got it.






After the doctor we all went home, took some great naps, then went shopping and finally went over to my parents for dinner. My mom, dad and sister were all there and we had a yummy feast of beef, chicken, shrimp and veggie shish-kabobs, my favorite, and angel food cake with strawberries for dessert. I ate so much!!!

Overall, it was a wonderful day! I got to spend it with people I love most in the world, got several phone calls throughout the day, lots of text messages and emails. I feel/felt very loved and again thankful for another year of life,even though I am getting old(er)!!!

My Girls

I just wanted to share some pictures of my girls, my two girls for now. Last Friday, while Joe was helping load up equipment for the benefit, I played on the playground at the church with Joleigh and Noelle. They had a blast playing together and being silly and I had the best time just watching them. I have been trying to slow down and enjoy my life in the here and now, focusing on each girl and what our life has been like with only two kids. They are amazing!!! I feel so honored and blessed to be their mom.

All Dressed Up

So this weekend was eventful. First of all, Joe traveled to Atlanta for work to check different churches and get some ideas. When we found out about the trip we weren't sure if it was going to be a good idea, considering I am 37 weeks pregnant, but when I went to the doctor last Monday, I wasn't even dilated, so Joe got permission to go. I decided to stay with my parents just in case anything happened. It was nice to have some extra help with the girls and I got to relax a little.

On Saturday night I got to get all dressed up to attend a benefit for One Mission. It was an event to share the vision and purpose of this mission organization and try to raise funds to continue their work to help those in need in Rocky Point, Mexico. I have shared about my good friends Dustin and Brittany Patrick who are living and working down there full-time. It was a formal event, so you can imagine how difficult it was for me to find a dress to fit my 9 month pregnant body, but I did. I was so blessed to have so many friends give me so many options, but I finally found the perfect one on Tuesday. Thanks Leslie!








My friend Jobey picked me up at my parents house. We took pictures and it felt like the prom, only very different, since I didn't have a date and being pregnant and all. The night was so much fun, I only wish Joe could have been there. He worked really hard programming the event and it was sad that he didn't get to enjoy it, but I was there to represent him and see all his hard work in action. There were so many friends there and everyone looked amazing! The night was a success! One Mission was able to raise funds to continue their work, as well as raise awareness of the needs of the people in Puerto Panasco. I can't wait to see how God will use the time, talents and resources of those who were able to attend the event!