This month we celebrate the beginning of a new year and dedicate the season to my new baby daughter! Last year was a year of change. This year is going to be a year of new beginnings.
The year started out simple enough, ringing in the New Year with my girl at my side. Our first New Years kiss. (Hopefully the first of many.) We celebrated in downtown St. Pete. I had a few cocktails but with Baby Mia on the way Jessica was on soda/water duty, save a little Champagne. It was a fun yet somewhat tame evening.
After kissing 2012 goodbye it was time to get back to work and take down all Decorating Elves Christmas lights. This being our biggest year to date I was very curious to see how long it would take us to break down. Amazingly we finished in record time!... 8 Days!!!! Thanks to my D.E. crew! You made this the best year with the least amount of headaches yet!
Now that the D.E. season was finished it was time to leave for Louisiana. Normally I’d make it to Louisiana in a day, but with us driving both the car and motor home it made more sense to stop in Tallahassee. We crashed in a Wal-Mart parking lot for the night and continued our drive in the AM. We made it to Hammond, LA the next afternoon. The plan was to leave the RV and drive the car to Minneapolis to have the baby who was due in 10 days. After a bite to eat and the obligatory daiquiri we settled down for a good night’s rest. We still have quite a drive after all.
Early the next morning Jes woke about 6 am. The baby had been pushing on her bladder for months and it appeared she had wet herself in her sleep. Joy. Anyway she got up changed and came back to bed. About an hour later it seemed she had done it again, but this time she was more wet than before. After closer inspection I noticed the wetness was a bit gooey. Uh Oh… I see a hospital in our future!
Ok, it was obvious our little bundle was coming 10 days early. The only problem was… her doctors, hospital, and for that case insurance was all in Minnesota! It was time to make some calls. I remembered that Jamie, the woman we were leaving the RV with, worked for a local hospital. What I didn’t know was that she was a high ranking executive at said hospital. BONUS! She gave us directions to the hospital which was about an hour away. That seemed doable considering Jessica’s low rate of leakage. I packed some stuff and grabbed the bag we had ready for baby and mama.
With everything as packed and ready as we were gonna be, given the situation, I headed for the car. Jes stopped me and said “I’m not going anywhere without a shower!†Ok then… Showers it is! We cleaned up and headed for the hospital in Baton Rouge.
Once we were there we went to the admissions desk and filled out some paperwork. (Simple enough so far) The admissions nurse did an exam and said “Yup, you’re having a baby…â€, and I, the smartass I am, said “I knew it!â€
At this point it was about 10:30 AM. Once we got to the delivery room, they administered Pitocin to move things along. While waiting we got to chat with her nurse about the process and her birth plan. I realized we didn’t even have a baby seat for the car yet. Guess who’s going to Babies R Us the next day after Mia’s birth? This guy right here!
At about 5 PM Jes was fully dilated and it was time to push. A small town had gathered for Mia’s birth. This was a teaching hospital and the room was filled with about 9 other students and doctors. This was specifically not part of the birth plan but given the impromptu circumstances we were just gonna have to accept it.
Without spelling out all the gruesome details of the birth process, Mia Iolanda Hall entered the world at 5:59PM on Sunday, January 13th. Happy Birthday!!
Now that the “Little Chick†is here, it’s time to head to Arizona and prepare for our first Faire of the season, The Arizona Renaissance Festival. This should be interesting. As all of you parents know, babies add a whole new dimension to life. I can’t wait to see what’s next!!! See ya in Arizona!