It's Valentine's Day!!

Four years ago yesterday afternoon, I started having contractions around 4:00 or so!! I was almost 36 weeks pregnant with Bee after a completely uneventful pregnancy. (physically anyway... emotionally and mentally it was the most crazy of them all, after two preemies and a miscarriage at almost 13 weeks right before that pregnancy). I felt like I'd been pregnant forever since that was the longest I'd ever carried any of my babies and I was ready to have her. After 3 hours of regular contractions and then being five minutes apart for an hour, we headed to the hospital. They checked me, hooked me up to the monitors and sent me home... crying. I was so tired of being scared that something would happen, I just wanted to hold my baby girl.

After talking to me thru several contractions, Mom and Dad decided to head to Kentucky to be sure they'd be there in time for the birth. There was a big ice storm coming towards the entire midwest and uppersouth, so they wanted to beat it to us. They got in around 2 am, about 3 hours after the hospital had sent me home telling me I wasn't in labor at all. By that time I was having back labor. For those of you blessed enough to not have back labor... be thankful!! I never did with the boys, but with Bee I did. Smart Guy and Dad went to bed and Mom and I moved to the living room for the night. I ate a bagel and some yogurt at different times during the night, thankful that I wasn't in the hospital now, knowing they'd probably be starving me thru my labor. Everytime I had a contraction, I got down on my knees and mom would put counterpressure on my back.

The next morning,on Valentine's Day, Dad took Prophet to school and we all hung out at home getting things done around the house. I had an appointment at 11:30 for a Non-stress test, so Mom and I headed to that not thinking I was that far along yet. Smart Guy planned to pick up Prophet from school and then head to the hospital. By the time we made the 40 minute drive to the hospital and the 10 minute walk from the parking garage, I was having contractions every minute or so consistently. I went to triage, where I waited and waited to be seen. When they finally got me in, they piddled around and acted like nothing was going on. After being in there for about 20 minutes, they had me hooked up to a monitor, but still hadn't checked to see if I was dilated. When Mom asked why, they said they had to see how my contractions were doing first. She told them to look at me and they could tell. After being able to change positions with each contraction all night and morning long, being stuck to the hospital bed with the monitor was very difficult. When I finnaly said that I needed to push, they finally came over to check me and were shocked to find that I was complete and ready to push. They hopped into action and got me into a delivery room where it took approximately 10 more minutes for Miss Bee to be born. Just as they were cleaning her up, her daddy walked in. He missed it by a minute or so.... so did my doctor. The triage doctor delivered her, someone I'd never met before.

They were all in shock. Barely twelve hours before, they had told me that I wasn't dilated at all and wasn't actually having those contractions that I was feeling.

Miss Bee was born at 12:30 pm during the biggest ice storm KY had seen for decades. I remember laying in bed that night and watching the blue sparks fly thru my window as transformers popped all over the city. How funny that the only birthday she's ever celebrated back up here, there would be 17 inches of snow on the ground.

She weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces and was 17 3/4 inches long. She was a giant as far as my standards went. After they monitored her in the nursery for the first couple hours, she came to my room and never again left my side. She was my first baby to room-in with me at the hospital. I could pick her up and love her and take care of her whenever and however I wanted. It was awesome! I could nurse her on her schedule instead of when I could get to the nursery!! She actually came home from the hospital the day I came home! I was scared to death all the way home that a branch covered with ice was gonna fall on our car and kill us all, (it actually had happened the day before, it wasn't just a hormonal freaky thing) but we got home without a problem!! The next several weeks of her life, there was snow on the ground constantly and I remember feeling stuck in the house with three small children.

Bee looked like me from the start. I love getting pictures out of me at the same age to compare. The same blond hair and brown eyes. Our personalities are much different though. I was a fairly quiet little girl. She on the other hand is Miss Personality Plus. She'll talk to a blade of grass if she thinks it'll listen. The things that come out of her mouth amaze me everyday!! She's a drama queen... oh my!! She hates bedtime. She loves tomatoes.... she ate herself into a tomato rash last September. She adores D.K.... She tolerates Prophet. She loves her Granny. She loves her baby dolls. She loves to wrestle with her brothers. She asks if she can go to school every morning when we get up. She's a sweet, adorable, and lovable little person. I can't imagine my our lives without her. I can't believe she's already four years old!!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little Valentine's baby girl!! I love you!!