The day that changed my life forever

After a fairly short day of induced labor, I was ready to push at 10:30 p.m.  I remember the first couple pushes, trying so hard but having no idea if I was doing it right because I couldn't feel anything.  The nurses said that the pushes were great, so I (naively) thought that I'd be done really soon.  An hour later, I was still pushing and starting to get exhausted.  At that moment my best friend Michelle, who had been speeding to western MD Maryland from Philadelphia, arrived.  She is an L&D nurse and was the best coach ever!  Don't get me wrong, S was very supportive, but Michelle does this for a living, so she knew how to get me going. 

At exactly midnight on August 31, my sweet baby girl came into the world...immediately causing trouble.  She wasn't breathing but luckily they were able to get her going fairly quickly.  The fact that she was born at exactly midnight also wreaked havoc with the records department.  Apparently it is impossible to be born at exactly 00:00::00 in the eyes of hospitals and insurance companies.  So we had to agree to let them change her time of birth to 12:01 a.m. (00:01::00), which meant we got an extra night in the hospital. 

The past year has been filled with fear, anxiety, sleeplessness, self-doubt, anger, depression, and more colds than I have had my entire life....but most of all it has been filled with more love than I knew existed.  I live to make my daughter happy.  To provide her with a happy loving family.  To give her things I didn't have.  To let her know how special and loved she is every single day.  Happy birthday baby!