Happy birthday, Jenna!

I don't remember much about Aug. 26, 2004. I remember being given too much spinal block and freaking out on the operating table. I remember, during surgery, feeling pressure and inadvertently saying "ouch," and my doctor -- who had his hands deep inside my abdominal cavity -- saying, "What? What do you mean by ouch?!!" I remember my body temperature dropping and me shivering so hard it was more like having convulsions. I remember arguing with a nurse who was about to give me a Phenergan shot. "It's only a half-dose," she said. I don't remember much after that.

But I do remember someone -- probably Chad -- putting a newborn baby girl in my arms. The baby it had taken us two years and three miscarriages to have. I remember exactly what I said when Chad(?) handed her to me for the first time: "Thank you God, for this beautiful baby." That's something I'll always remember.