Happy 1st Birthday, LadyBug!

Where does a year go? Remember when we were 20, and the year from 20-21 took FOREVER? It seems like my daughter was born yesterday. From the second she was conceived, I knew she was a little special....yes, I know we ALL say that. But things were really different. And that was confirmed minutes after she was born and the Dr.'s started calling her our Miracle Baby. You see.....

If everything didn't happen EXACTLY as it did, our little ladybug wouldn't be here. To give you the first in a line of "coincidences", I will back up quickly to my son's birth. He was two weeks early. I was actually scheduled to be induced on a Sunday,  because he was getting so large, but my grandfather died. I wanted to attend the funeral, so we changed the day to the following Wednesday. But little man was ready. Ironically he came that Sunday anyway. After being in HARD labor for four hours, the said he was looking up and were going to do a c-section. My regular Dr. would have gone in and turned him (we had discussed this because I was the SAME way!), but I had the Dr. on call, and she did things differently. Since I had that first c-section, I knew I would end up having two because of the risks (let's not get into a discussion, just a decision I made.)
We planned my daughter (as we did my son) but I didn't think it would happen so quickly since my son took 9 months to conceive. We followed the calendar and the "signs" but I just kind of knew it didn't work. So one day, on a spur, ten minutes before work, I set my son up with cartoons and grabbed my hubby, romantic yes I know. And after that I knew. I KNEW that I was pregnant. The night before Easter, I attended my Church's Easter Vigil to get my First Confirmation and Communion. As I sat there, with my eyes welling up at the beauty of what I was doing, I felt that sharp pain. Some mom's will know that pain I am talking about. That sharp implantation pain. I took a test on Easter, wanting to make that my husband's present. It said negative, but I still KNEW. I threw the test in a drawer and waited a few days. I took another test on Wednesday and it was positive. I looked back at that first test and I saw it. The very faint line. My Easter surprise was going to be a near-Christmas baby. Well, kind of since we were going to schedule a c-section. I had bleeding, so we went in early and saw that beautiful heartbeat. From that day on, I always said "yep, that is just (ladybug). She was stubborn and independent and determined from the moment of conception. She didn't participate in ultrasounds, she would scare the heck out of us sometimes, and never-endingly kick me others. And I was SO happy that I got to share my those first months of my Communions with her.

After a few months, we scheduled the c-section for 11/24, a few days after my birthday but before Thanksgiving. But my daughter had her own plans. I started losing my mucous plug a few days before. I started taking it easy. On the evening of the 22nd, I started having on and off contractions. I rested more. But on the 23rd, I had cleaning to do. The rest of the plug fell out. I told my mom I didn't think she was going to wait. But we did the "tradition" and went to dinner at On the Border, just like we did the night my son was born. While there, I had more and more contractions. But I was DETERMINED to make it to midnight so we didn't have to pay for an extra day. As I reclined after dinner, my contractions not painful but steady at ten minutes apart. The Dr. said to come in. It was 8. My husband was positive we wouldn't make it another four hours. We were now at 8 minutes apart. (With my son I waited until 5 min apart and I was already dialated to 7-the nurses were pretty impressed!). So..we went.

When we got there, I was dialated to a 3, and her heartbeat was great. The nurse told me that they don't usually call the Dr. for repeat c-sections until a 5, but since it was getting late she was going to let the Dr. make the call. The Dr. said to prep me she was coming in. I went into the operating room about nine-thirty. My daughter came into this world at 10:03 pm. If my daughter wouldn't have been just like her brother and wanted to come early, I wouldn't have a daughter. If I had waited until midnight, I wouldn't have a daughter. If the Dr. had waited until I was at a five, I wouldn't have a daughter. As they pulled her out, they found she had a rare "true knot" in her cord. If that knot had been pulled ANY harder, it would have cut off everything. Had I let her go into the birth canal, had the contractions pushed her any further, it may have been too late. At the very least, she would have been without oxygen while they prepped me for surgery. She may be a very different baby than she is today had that happened. She is TRULY my miracle baby.

I couldn't imagine my life without her. Her smile is unlike anything I have ever seen, she smiles with her whole entire body. She is feisty and active, full of fun and lots of loving. She is the spunk that this family was lacking. She is the other corner piece that is so vital to the puzzle. She is everything I have ever wanted in a daughter.