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| Baby Story: |
| The Labor: Piece of cake..there was none! After Lipo Suction, a C-Section was a walk in the park! |
| The Name: Lena is named for our Grandmothers: Lena (Grandma Lee), was Staci's grandmother, and she was as lively and funny as can be! Whenever she would come over, she would yell out "Guess Who's Co---ming", and we would get so excited! I remember when she lived with us, and I shared a room with her, and I would lie in bed at night and talk to her and tell her everything! I remember being 12 or 13 when she first told me in one of those midnight conversations, that her name was not Lee, but Lena. I remember being so surprised, because I had known her as Lee my whole life! I remember telling her that Lena was the prettiest name I had ever heard, and that if I ever had a baby girl, I was going to name her Lena! Staci-------> Great Grandma Lena---> Lillian was Jim's Grandma. She was the Grandma every kid wanted to have. Everyone else always came first, before herself. No matter how much you ever ate, you had to eat more! She used to give him as much candy and cookies, and ice cream as he wanted, until he threw up! He still talks about her toasted pound cake, and her famous brownies! He says he misses those brownies! She was kind, and caring, and patient. Great Grandma Lillian---> Jim------> Few people I know are lucky enough to have had the kind of special relationships with their Grandparents, that Jim and I had with these two very special women. Their unconditional love has had such a profound effect on both of us, that when it came to naming our Daughter, honoring these women that we loved so much, seemed like the obvious choice! |
July 3 2005
Lena Lillian Waters
| It took us quite a while to get pregnant, almost two years. After multiple attempts at artificial insemination, and a consultation for IVF, we miraculously got pregnant naturally. The pregnancy was relatively uneventful, up until July 3rd. My feet and ankles had been quite swollen for over 3 weeks. I took my blood pressure at work and noticed that it was very high. I also kept feeling that my belly wasn't as big as I thought it should be, but everyone kept telling me I would "Pop Out" soon, or that I was just carrying well, but I knew I should have been bigger. I went to see my doctor, who admitted me to the hospital immediately. It turned out that there was compromised blood flow in the placenta, which was limiting the amount of oxygen and nutrients that were being supplied to Lena. This was restricting her growth. It became evident, that she would do much better outside the womb, where she could receive the oxygen and nutrition that she needed. Although she was born at 28 weeks, she only measured 24 weeks gestational age. That means that all of her organs and tissues were developmentally 28 weeks, but she was the size of a 24 week fetus. Luckily, the wonderful High Risk OB doctors at Loyola had time to give me 4 injections of a steroid that helps increase fetal lung maturity prior to delivery. Then, at 7:03 am, on 07/03/05, Lena Lillian Waters was born by C-Sectiion, weighing 1 pound, 2 ounces. The events leading up to Lena's birth, were some of the scariest experiences I have have ever had! |
