6 Years Ago

My oldest daughter, Adelynn Grace, turns 6 tomorrow.

As  I was sitting in my morning meditation I flashed back on my life 6 years ago and felt the urge to share.

My family had rented a camp up on the lake we’ve been going to since I was a baby. It was the last day before they were packing up to return home and my husband Jeramie and I were planning to go visit later that afternoon.

For over 20 years I have had type 1 Diabetes and my pregnancy was closely monitored and not the easiest task I’ve taken on. With Adelynn, a summer baby… I experienced a lot of swelling and discomfort.

On this day, 6 years ago, Jeramie took me in to my OB for my last visit, to measure the fluid levels and get a read on the baby’s size. Adelynn was going to be a scheduled C-Section and we had a lot of paper work to sign for the hospital procedures.
Just like buying a new car! (Right??)

He and I sat in the doctors office together and they called me in to the room to do the ultrasound. I remember the conversations with so many different technicians and nurses. They were all so kind… but this time, I know the tech was having a hard time hiding the shock that this baby wasn’t coming out yet. According to her reading, Adelynn was weighing in at over 10.5 pounds and I had to keep her in until the following Tuesday (5 more days).
So we headed back home.
We still had a few odds and ends to add to the nursery, but for the most part we were ready.
A coupon had come in the mail from Ruby Tuesday, and Jeramie asked me to go to lunch and then we’d head on up to the lake to visit with my family.

It’s funny how you remember all of these “lasts” before a major change. I see that restaurant and remember having lunch with my husband the day before the baby came.

We got up to the lake and I remember being so uncomfortable. It was the dead of summer and the heat was high. My mom encouraged me to get in the water and relax. It was very sound advice. I put on my stretchy spandex yoga top and shorts and felt 50 lbs lighter as the lake supported my body. This pregnancy added a lot of swelling and fluid with Adelynn. The following day, when they broke my water, they were shocked to find an additional 3 GALLONS of fluid surrounding an almost 11 pound baby. I remember them calling her The Tsunami Baby… happy as a little fish!

So much in our lives has changed since Adelynn made her debut, but so much is still the same. I live a few miles from that big beautiful lake that my family and I love so much. My daughter is still a water bug and loves to swim… whether in a kiddy pool, the bathtub or the Chesapeake Bay!

No one can prepare you for becoming a parent.
No one.
All the advice is nothing compared to the flood of emotions that comes when you hold that little child the first time.
I remember the tears streaming down my cheeks, my husband’s words… “I love you babe” as we held our little girl for the first time. I remember the restaurant the day before, the swim in the lake, and the odd feeling I got when I signed the hospital papers and “scheduled” my C-section.
Adelynn had her own schedule and it worked.

Happy almost birthday to my sweet girl.