The Sparks family welcomed Jena Leighanne into the world at 11:44 am on April 17th, 2010. We tried to have her a little earlier. Here are some shots of what I like to call round one...
A couple of weeks before she was born I was having contractions 5-7 min apart for more than 12 hours so I decided to go on in to the hospital only to be sent back home because I wasn't in "real labor". Then, on Friday the 16th I was in terrible pain all day and throughout the night and by Saturday morning I had had enough and decided we weren't waiting until my scheduled surgery day on Monday. We went into the hospital around 10:00 on Saturday morning and by 11:44 she was born!!!
Here is my goofy family right before surgery...
The professional father... (isn't he cute!)
Okay, so when they held Jena over the curtain for the first time and I got a peek at all that black hair I thought, "Whose baby is that?"
Jena was a surprise from the moment we found out about her and she hasn't stopped surprising us since! Our beautiful brunette was born weighing 7lbs. 4 oz. and she was 19 inches long. Her sisters absolutely ADORE her! Jill so much so that we have to keep her a good foot from Jena at all times for fear she might hug her to death. When Jill is in the same room with her she watches her at all times and will periodically point to her and say, "Baby". She will pet her really softly on the head and say, "soft". You can see in her eyes how badly she wants to just squeeze her. And Jane has been beyond great. She also wants to hold her all day. Here are some shots I got when I finally let her...
Another surprise we found out in the hospital was that Jena was born with Colobomas in both of her eyes. A coloboma is a birth defect where the iris is not formed all of the way leaving a pupil that looks more like a keyhole rather than a circle. By itself colobomas are of no consequence other than Jena will have a sensitivity to light and really cool looking eyes. However, sometimes colobomas are associated with a slew of other issues one of which can be heart defects. While we were in the hospital Jena's doctor heard a heart murmur and after an ultrasound of the heart we found out that Jena has two heart defects both of which are self correcting and should be healed in a few months which will be confirmed with another test they will run then. In the meantime they have sent Jena's blood off to run genetic testing on to see if she shows up with a genetic marker for a particular syndrome that is associated with colobomas, heart defects and other problems as well. We are very hopeful that Jena won't show up with this marker and we are praying about it daily. We feel so blessed to have this special girl. She truly completes our family!
11 comments:
(HA! I was just coming to your page and thinking that I would email you and say "what are you BUSY?" Then I refreshed and a NEW POST! I could feel you!)
Anyway, on to the important part... JENA!!! What a sweet sweet little girl! I can't wait to meet her!! I BET the girls are just falling all over themselves and I only hope that you will be able to get some rest with all of the attention on the sweet one "attached" to you. Congratulations, to the Sparks family and welcome to the world, Jena Leighanne - we are so glad you are here!!
#2 - the other important part... we have been thinking about you all and praying that all results are good ones!
She's so gorgeous! I am so happy for you and your family - you guys make beautiful babies! I love how into Jena your girls are. Jill was so cute the other day wandering around holding her baby, looking for the "real"baby. You'll have your hands full keeping Jena away from her sisters I have a feeling :) I can't imagine how stressful it is to be waiting for test results, we're continuing to pray that all tests will come back negative. You're right - you have such a wonderful blessing to complete your family. Congratulations!!
So happy for your sweet family and sending lots of good thoughts Jena's way regarding her test results.
Tricia
I know I say this everytime I see Jane...but she is just becoming such the little girl. My kids asked me tonight, "Has Mrs. Sparks ever been to our house?" I told them once I babysat Jane when she was a baby...seems like just yesterday and wow. Now there's three!! Congrats, Joanne and Jay! What a beautiful family! HUGS!
Sooo excited to see pictures of little Jena and hear how much your bigger babies are in love with her! Those pictures of Jane tell it all. Jena is adorable!! I don't think she'll be aloud to fuss with her big sisters at the ready to soothe her! Will be praying with you for a good report. Congrats to the Sparks family!
She's just precious Joanne! All that hair brings back fond memories of the day Sophia was born. I can't wait to meet her! Congratulations to you all and we continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
I'm so happy Jena is here, woo hoo!!! She is absolutely beautiful. She looks a lot like Jane (from what I can tell in the pictures) but with DARK hair! CONGRATULATIONS! Thank goodness Jill loves babies, it could have gone a different way and you'd have to be protecting Jena from smacks :). We will be definitely keeping all of you, but most importantly Jena, in our prayers. We know a thing or two about waiting for test results here in this household and it is horrible waiting around. But you're doing the only thing you can do, praying! We'll continue to do so as well. Enjoy this precious time with all three of your girls! (love the waiting around pictures by the way, I can't believe you weren't in labor the first time!?!)
Oh, I forgot to mention...I love, love, love that first photo of you and Jena, and I think she has a really cute nose.
Tricia
Congratulations Joanne! I can't wait to meet Jena! She looks so sweet, you have 3 beautiful girls! How fun, I'm jealous! I'll be thinking about you all and praying that all your test results are good!
Can't believe it took me so long to log in and see baby Jena (of course I saw her on FB and talked to mommy on the phone, but its official until it is blogged right?)
Jena is just beautiful... and I love that she is full of surprises for you. God sure knows what he is doing- huh?
My favorite pic aside from Jena... is the family one before the Csection- you can so tell they are all experts in this now!! And I like the title "professional father" title for Jay!
There just are not words to tell you how happy I am for you and your sweet, sweet family.
I am really really good at praying for precious baby girls! You AMAZE me! I love you!
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