March 8, 2002 (Friday)

Day 13

We had a good night's sleep.  I slept so hard that I was dreaming. (Haven't done that in a while.) The usual rounds of medicine were given and Jared started his new chemo around 11:30 a.m.  He did not have any problems.  Thank you, Lord. The next chemo started around 2:00 and finished close to 5:00. 

We had a quiet day watching TV and doing a little organizing in our room.  I'm so glad that we only have two days of chemo left. Jared took a shower around 6:00.  One of the chemos is excreted through the skin so he has to take at least three showers a day to protect his skin. He thought he was going to have to take another shower but his nurse, Richardean, said he could slide since he finished his chemo late in the day. He was relieved.

William arrived around 8:00.  He brought food from Taco Bell as a surprise.  We had a nice evening just being together.  We later called and talked with Adam since he was not able to make the trip.  William left around 10:30 and we are about to go to sleep. 

*Lord, I thank you for this day.  I pray, Lord, for your will.  I thank you that Jared is in your hands.  Please touch Daniel, Larry, Shannon, Joel and Oliver (the other kids on the stem cell floor).  Heal their bodies.  Strengthen them.  Strengthen their parents.  Lord, you are awesome.  Have your way.  In Jesus name. Amen.

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Just in case you have never met Jared, I thought I would help you get to know him over the next few weeks.  We will start with his birth day.  Actually two days before.  My due date with Jared was May 6th, a Friday.  When we found out our due date months before, we started taking pictures on the 6th of each month to show the physical changes taking place. William, Adam and I would each stand sideways at the end of the hall, smile and click.  Another picture for the album.  On May 6th, we took our monthly picture but still no Jared.  The next day we were invited to a crawfish boil (we lived in Hammond, Louisiana).  When we arrived everyone was in the backyard.  There was a picnic table covered with a tablecloth and it was covered with crawfish.  A pregnant woman's dream.  I sat and ate and ate and ate crawfish that afternoon.

The next morning I was up around 4:00.  My tummy did not feel well.  I went back to sleep and dreamed I was having contractions.  Around 7:00 I was back up again and realized I was really having contractions.  We hurriedly did a few things around the house, took Adam next door to Rhonda and Doug's house and went to the hospital.  We arrived around 9:30 and had a baby boy named Jared Michael Sangster at 11:08 a.m. (Mother's Day). He did not waste anytime arriving on the scene. Jared's heart was beating abnormally so the doctor decided to keep him on a heart monitor so he stayed in the nursery most of the time.

Adam, Jared and Grandma Dess

After two days, the doctor determined that Jared's heart was healthy and we could go home.  A great day.  Grandma Dess and Grandpa Tom were at the house with Adam (they came to help while we were in the hospital) so we had a grand celebration with everyone. We were all so happy to bring our new baby boy home to join his brother, Adam, and our family.  Especially Adam.

Oh, remember the crawfish.  Jared liked spicy food.  I always told him it was because of the crawfish we ate and ate and ate the day before his birth day. :)