Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Birth Day

Well my baby is seven today....Can't help but think back to when it was just Gary, me, and this new little person we loved more than life itself.  God, we were terrified we might do something to hurt her or upset her or screw her up for good.  Little did we know how much our lives would forever be changed by her sweet little soul.....
I was pregnant with her almost immediately after our wedding.  I think it was two months after we got back from our honeymoon.  We were fortunate to not have any trouble conceiving and overall, I had a pretty easy pregnancy.  I remember finding out we were having a little girl and being so thrilled.  I couldn't wait to dress her up in cute little outfits and take her shopping with me and watch her dance recitals...At 38 weeks, I ended up with pneumonia and was pretty sick.  On top of that I had some issues with my sciatic nerve so by 40 weeks, I was done.  DONE.  But our little princess wasn't quite ready to make her debut.  My mom and I tried everything short of taking castor oil to get my labor started.  My dr. allowed me to go 14 days past my due date, and my induction was scheduled on day +14.  Because my parents lived in Florida at the time, my dad was waiting to come home until I went into labor.   My mom was already staying wtih us to help us with any last minute preparations and just in case I went into labor on my own.  I wanted her to be there with me, and thank the Lord, she was able to do so.  Once the induction was scheduled, my dad went ahead and flew home and I swear, it wasn't after he'd been home more than a few hours that I started labor.  It was as though McKenna was just waiting for her Pappy to get to Ohio and be there for us...

So, no induction afterall, right?!  Wrong.  Got to the hospital and after they broke my water and gave me labor inducing drugs, she still wasn't in any hurry.  Ended up having a c-section after a full 24 hours of labor.  I was exhausted, and so was Gary.  But then, in that one single second of seeing McKenna's face and holding her that very first time, nothing else mattered.  Nothing would ever compare to that one single moment.  Nothing will ever exceed the amount of love that consumed me, for Gary and for this little baby we created.  I couldn't believe she was ours.

In the first days at home with McKenna, I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit foggy.  So was Gary.  And again, without my mom's help, I'm not sure we would've made it.  She changed diapers, let us sleep during the night and gave us every single piece of advice we asked her for. Things started to get easier as we settled into a routine.  Mom went back to Florida and Gary went back to work.  I decided to not go back to work and there I was, home all day, taking pictures of her to send to my parents , and dressing her up in the thousands of outfits we had gotten for her as gifts.  I bet I changed her clothes 3 times a day!

When I think back to the three of us, living in a teeny little house, just scraping by, making ends meet, we were just living on love.  We couldn't have been happier.  May sound corny but it's true. Gary was working a lot of hours in a job he didn't like and I was going to school 3 nights a week and on the weekends to finish my masters.  Nothing mattered except how much we wanted to take care of McKenna, keep her safe,and protect her from this crazy world.  We wanted to experience everything with her, and we took her all kinds of places to let her explore and discover and enjoy everything and everyone around her.

Becoming parents changed us for the good.  It strengthened our marriage, it opened our eyes to see what was important, and it made me realize that this is what God put me on this Earth to do.  Parenthood has it's ups and downs. Some days are good and some days are crazy bad.  But every night when I put McKenna, and now Michael also, to bed, and they say, "I love you sweet Mommy", I thank my lucky stars for every blessing I've been given and for the road that led me right here to this spot today.
Happy Birthday to my saving grace, McKenna.... I love you sweet girl....

1 comments:

Steve said...

Jana, I love reading your blogs.

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