The Story ~ In the beginning

In the beginning, there was a woman of 32 who was pregnant with her first. There was nothing but the joys of an expectant mother, and the challenges of a first pregnancy. There was an office job, daily walks, prenatal yoga, healthy eating, and an online support group out of which grew incredible friendships. There was the planning, the anticipation and the usual nags of uncertainty now and then.
  
Then came the breech position. The growing baby refused to turn bottom side up. And, as time passed it became evident that this was the new reality. A c-section was inevitable. In spite of all our efforts: chiropractor visits, arm stands, cold compresses, music between the legs, the breech remained. We accepted our journey and filed it under: "a healthy baby regardless of the way." We dialed for dollars looking for an OB who had privileges at a closer hospital with private maternity rooms and moved on with our journey.  At 35 weeks we found someone as we drove to New York on our last babymoon and saw him only once before the baby made her appearance.

Ten days before she was due, and a week before the scheduled C-section, Jannah-Rae made her way into the world. A 7 pound 7 and a half ounce baby with a head full of hair, the girl was everything we had hoped she would be.

The recovery from the C-section was long and painful. I could not stand up without help, walked slower than a turtle, and was housebound for at least 6 of the 8 weeks of my recovery period, leaving only to take JR to the pediatrician. We had two snow storms during that time and spent the first two weeks of homecoming sleeping on the couch in the living room.

The story would have ended well after I recovered and was on my feet again. Little did we know, though, that the routine C-section surgery was only the beginning of the journey filled with pregnancy challenges.