Happy Birthday Jamie!

Welcome to this world Miss Hadley Alice Miller. That was the day, September 21, 2010, Jamie's birthday. What a special blessing for a mother to receive on her birthday. Our baby girl was born at 12:59, weighed 3 lbs. 13 oz., and was 16 1/2 in. long.
We had what we thought was going to be a "normal" doctor's appointment on September 21st. They did the usual pre-term labor checks and non-stress test. The next item was the biophysical ultrasound that we were receiving weekly due to the gestational age of the pregnancy. Our ultrasound tech, Cheryl, starting performing her checks but wasn't getting what she needed. Dr. Harstad was then called in to take a look at things. He didn’t like what he was seeing and became very concerned about our baby but couldn’t put an exact finger on what was happening. He called Dr. Nash and spoke with her about the situation and they decided that it was best if we go to the hospital.
I began to make the usual phone calls to the family starting with our parents. Big Daddy (Fr. Herrmann) was coming to our house to surprise Jamie for her birthday and eat some Alice Springs Chicken from Outback steakhouse. I had to let him know that he might want to move that time up for their arrival.
So off we went to the hospital, and before we knew it Jamie was being prepped for a C-section, and I was handed my garb to scrub in. Jamie was wheeled back into the operating room and I had to wait while they finished prepping her. All of a sudden a nurse comes around the corner said, “Daddy are you ready?”, and off to the O.R. I went.
At the moment I walked into the room I saw the most precious look on Jamie’s face and could read her eyes that this was the moment we had waited for. It was happening today, her birthday; our child would be born.
During the delivery of our babies the nurses asked if I had a camera, and I told them I had my phone. Of course we had planned on a very different day than what had happened. I stood up as they handed Hadley to the NICU nurses and was able to get a picture of her gracing us into this world, it was a sight I will never forget.
Hadley was born severely anemic, which meant that she was born with 50% of her blood supply. The nurses immediately began giving her fluids and ordered a blood transfusion of unmatched blood until her blood could be matched. In the meantime, while I was with Hadley, Jamie was wheeled into the recovery room. I was able to call our immediate family with the news of the birth of our baby girl and give them all the “important” stats, and to have them begin asking for prayers.
I went with Hadley to the NICU while Jamie was recovering in the recovery room. It gave me an opportunity to meet with her doctors and her nurses, Jill and Sarah. Hadley received the best possible care from the best possible staff that we could have asked for.
Jamie and I were truly blessed on her birthday to have such a precious little girl born into our lives. She was the most precious thing that we could have ever asked for in a daughter. She was perfect, beautiful and most importantly, she was ours. This is a day that I will never forget for the rest of my life.



Love,
Ben and Jamie