Shamus and I are proud to announce the birth of our beautiful baby girl - surprise!! Joanna Canady Yandle born on Thursday, May 20 at 2:28 in the afternoon at Atlanta Medical Center downtown. She weighed 7lbs 10 oz and was 20 in long. Mom and baby are doing great! We returned home Friday night from the hospital. Since I haven't shared our new home address, it's2261 Goodrum Lane
Marietta, GA 30066
Pictures, praises and birth story are below!! Feel free to pass along!
Love ya'll and thanks so much for your prayers!!
Link to online pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/
Praise God for:
healthy baby
smooth and uncomplicated labor and delivery
perfect timing to allow grandparents to arrive all with a good night's rest
less stressful waterbirth - yep she was born in the water!! :-)
renewed strength from the Lord
great nurser already!! :-) :-)
very strong and alert baby girl
shamus jr has loved her immensely and has been very gentle and helpful with her
Birth Story:
Mom woke up Thursday morning at 4:30am with contractions and vivid dreams of having a baby boy with very alert and captivating dark eyes. By 5am, Mom knew these contractions were the real deal and told Dad that today would be the day! We laid in bed and timed the contractions for 30 minutes just to be sure - they were already 8 minutes apart. At 5:30 we called Jana's parents so they would have time to drive from Millen and help us with Shamus Jr. We were thrilled that God timed the labor so that we all had a chance to get a good night's rest!!
By 6am we were both up cooking breakfast and cleaning to pass the time. Mom decided it was time to clean the ceiling fan blades so that was her second labor project after pressing a patch into a pair of Dad's favorite shorts. Shamus Jr. greeted us around 7:30 and we spent the morning watching Thomas the Train while folding clothes, doing more cleaning, and counting contractions all the while. We noticed the contractions times would change with my activity level so we were wondering if this labor would be very different from Shamus Jr. and last much longer.
By 9am the intensity started to increase and I was wondering if it were a good idea to wait for my parents before leaving for the hospital but we decided I was more comfortable at home so we continued with our plan. Gammy and Papa arrived at 10:30 and we spent an hour enjoying Shamus open his new Thomas the train set and other goodies for him and Baby Joanna.
At 11:30 we kissed everyone goodbye and drove to the hospital with a pit stop at Planet Smoothie. The contractions were very uncomfortable and I realized I needed to concentrate better on my breathing. We arrived at the hospital at 12:30 - yep traffic was pretty bad midday so we had to bypass the interstate for a bit. Once checked in at the hosptial, we were excited to hear that we were already 7cm. Mom then waited patiently as they setup our labor room with birthing pool. After laboring for an hour in the tub, Jana quietly prayed that she was ready to push, hoping that the end of labor would come real soon. To her surprise, the next contraction she had the urge to push and her midwife encouraged her to go with the feelings. So on her knees and leaning on the side of the tub, mom pushed through 3 more contractions and Joanna was gently born. She was very active and wiggling around. Daddy was the first one to see the sex and announce out loud "It's a girl! It's a girl!" Daddy was excited to have a little girl and mommy was surprised since she thought it was a boy toward the end of the 9 months. Praise God for another healthy blessing from above and the strength to experience a natural childbirth.
