Baby Caroline

Here are some of the first pictures of Caroline and our family. We have to go back to get pictures with Charlie and Madeline because Caroline would have nothing of the picture taking process. We were lucky to get what we did. You can go to smilesbywire.com and enter access code LTPP0737101913JCP to see the rest.

In Memory of Debbie

I have to post these pictures again and share a little of what Debbie Dennis means to me and to our family. On March 5, Deborah Ann Dennis lost her 6-year battle with cancer and went to be with Jesus. Words cannot express the depth of love and appreciation we have for her and how blessed we feel for having had her in our lives. She was an amazing woman of God and was a prayer warrior for anyone who had crossed paths with her. She was a friend and a confidante, "Nocona grandmother" to my kids known as "Miss Debbie," and my "Nocona mom." I could go to her about anything and be assured and reassured of God's faithfulness, and know that my concerns would be prayed over. We held nothing back and I am comforted by that now. Never a conversation went by that we didn't say "I love you." She babysat Charlie and Madeline and that made her so happy. She even came to play when she didn't feel well. She took care of them, gave them her love and talked to them about God. She shared her life with theirs and ours. They looked forward to seeing her and often asked about her. They kept her in their prayers, and even in the last months when they couldn't see her as much, they would say they missed her. Explaining to them that Miss Debbie went to be with Jesus was so bittersweet. Miss Debbie is happy and well, we told them, but it's ok for us to be sad that we won't see her anymore. I will never let them forget her and I told her that when I saw her the day before she died.

That is the story that I want to tell. The day Caroline was born, Debbie went to the emergency room. They quickly sent her to hospice and said she may not even make it through the night. Her neice, Mandy came to film Caroline and the kids and us so that Debbie could see. She was able to see Caroline on video and comment on her chubby cheeks. She was still alert at this time and I was able to talk to her on the phone that night. She was in and out because of the Morphine, but the "I love you's" were very audible. For the next three days, I was too sick to go see her, and I prayed that she would hang on, but not suffer. We went straight to Hospice when we were released Tuesday morning, and Debbie had taken a turn for the worse. As she lay in the bed holding hands with her kids, I went to her and told her I was there. I told her how much I loved her and then placed Caroline near her chest with her cheek against Debbie's. I told her Caroline was there and she moved her head side to side and lifted her hands. Her daughter, Ashley, helped Debbie place her hand under Caroline to hold her and to touch her feet which were hanging out of her gown. Caroline nuzzled Debbie's cheek as if she were giving her kisses. I told her she said she would see Caroline and here she was and God was so good. I said that I would always tell Caroline about her and that Charlie and Madeline would as well. I told her I would call Caroline my angel because of Debbie and God's timing. It was the most beautiful moment. I just know she knew we were there and that it brought her happiness. I still feel like Debbie went away and left Caroline here with us. I know the timing of her birth was God allowing Debbie to be able to see her and feel her because if it had been any later, this moment would not have happened. Debbie died the next dayat 11:30am. Every time I feel or kiss Caroline's cheek, I think of Debbie and this moment. It will stay with me forever.

A Little More Info

Well, there was a lot more to my Caroline's birth story, and while she is sleeping, let me fill you in. After assuming that whe would take the full 40 weeks to arrive and that I would be induced on Wednesday, March 5, Caroline stopped taking her sweet time early in the morning of March 1. My contractions began at about 4AM, and I thought they were just hard Braxton-Hicks. I had these with all three kids most of each pregnancy, so it was nothing new to me except that this time they were painful and way low. So they were also different than the real contractions I had had before with the other pregnancies. I wasn't sure if it was anything, but I woke Dave and said they were about 5 minutes apart, but I thought only BH, so should I call the Dr.? He said let's wait it out. I called the Dr. soon after and he said to come in and get checked. Now, we are an hour from the hospital and because I had been sick the day before (and because I am a procrastinator), I had not packed a bag for me or gotten things ready for the kids. So it took us about another hour to leave the house. And I was still thinking they would just send me home with false labor. However, on the way to the hospital, the contractions got harder and were coming 3-4 minutes apart. Now Dave, who never speeds, would go faster with each one and by the time we got to Wichita Falls was going 80MPH and running red lights with flashers on. We were a little worried!! He said he was looking for places on the side of the road where we could stop!!



We got to the hospital and Dave had someone come down from LDR to get me in a wheelchair while he parked the van. Everyone was hurrying, and I had to go to Triage. They discovered I was 4-5cm dilated and they would keep me. (Hooray!!) I had already been asking for the epidural in the van, but they had to move me to a room (yes, I had to get up, move to a wheelchair again, and move to a bed in the delivery room- are you kidding me?!?!), and give me 1/2 a bag of IV fluids so my blood pressure wouldn't go up. (What?!?!?!) It dripped fast, but not fast enough!!! Anyway, I got the epidural, which only worked on one side as my body usually does, my water broke with a check from the nurse (and we knew it had Meconium in it), and within 30 minutes I went from 5cm to 10cm and was ready to deliver. All of a sudden the room filled with people (minus the Dr.) and I was pushing. Then I was told to stop pushing and had to wait (!?!?!) for the Dr. to get there. My wonderful husband then informed me that if all our babies had been this quick and easy, we could have had 5 or 6. (I told him to bite his tongue!) The nurse said for the Dr. to come right in when she arrived, and I'm wondering if she would make it at all. She did and within minutes, Caroline was born. I got to hold her for a minute or so, and then the chaos of her little life began away from me.



The team was working on Caroline for quite a while and she didn't seem very animated. We hadn't really heard any crying, which in my mind would be a sign that she was okay. So I waited for that, but they kept reasuring me that she was okay. She had to be taken to the nursery and I was told that maybe in a few hours I could nurse her. This shattered my dream of nursing right away and having that skin-on-skin contact with her. We soon found out that she needed chest X-Rays, oxygen and antibiotics, and she was hooked up to a C-Pap mask. This gave her the oxygen and looked like a T-shaped strap on her face. It strapped around her head and covered her nose with a tube going up over her forehead. She had an IV in her arm and a tube in her mouth as well. Dave took a picture to show me so I wouldn't be alarmed the first time I saw her. It was very scary. So it turned out that I couldn't nurse her then, but maybe about 8:00 that night. So I waited.


This is the point at which things with Debbie began to happen for us and right now Caroline is waking, so i will continue another time. We are just so happy that things were not worse for her when she was born as we know they could have been.

Welcome to Caroline Faith

Caroline came into this world fast and furious on Saturday March 1. After one labor of 36 hours and another of 17 hours, I was thrilled to have a labor of only 5 hours. Labor began at 4AM and at 8:57AM, she was here. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce and was 22 inches long. All the grandparents missed it, but I was thankful to have it over quickly. From that point on, however, things have been moving much more slowly. Caroline swallowed some Meconium- her first poop- and had to be taken to the Nursery. She needed chest x-rays, oxygen, and antibiotics. It was a while before I was even able to hold her and two days before she was able to be in my room to stay. Meanwhile, I was fighting the flu, with fever, aches and upper respiratory stuff. So between the two of us, we didn't come home until Tuesday. And since then, we have endured nursing complications, and the death of our dear friend, Debbie Dennis. I will post more on that incredible journey another time. Suffice it to say that Caroline is truly an Angel Baby. For now, here is a pic of the proud siblings.