February 15, 2011
It's been 334 days, 8,016 hours and 480,960 minutes since our sweet little bunny came into the world. It feels like it's only been five minutes and yet my love for her has out grown the size of the sun. In thirty-one short days Arrow will be turning one and I just cannot believe it. Last year at this time I was so scared and apprehensive as to what was about to happen, I had no idea that my love for her would erase those feelings in two seconds. I'm so glad that it did! This being my first post I'm going to give a famous "long story short" recap of the last twenty-one months of my life, I'll try not to bore you too much.
Jerry and I found out that we were expecting on July 28, 2009. Let's just say that if you are wanting to expand your family there is something in the water at 'Tween Waters on Captiva...
The first person we told was Jerry's dad, Big Jerry, and it was not the birthday present he was expecting!
We tried to wait to tell everyone else, but Jerry and I can't keep secrets about ourselves for the life of us so everyone pretty much knew right away. I told my parents over pecan pie and tears. The funny thing is I always imagined that my mom would take one look at me and know, but nope, it was my dad!
The first five months were not fun for me, but looking back I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat, she's so worth it! After the morning sickness subsided it was pretty smooth sailing until I was around seven months, we had a pretty big scare with my lab results that there was a chance that our little girl might have Downs syndrome. Although it was the scariest thing anyone has ever said to me I knew immediately that no matter what she was mine and that my whole life would be about her. The next few days were the longest, the most sleepless days of my life. When we finally were able to go to the Fetal Medical Center for genetic counseling and to get further testing I knew many signs to look for on the monitor. The outcome for us, for which we are so very grateful for, a healthy baby girl, was such a blessing. I am so thankful that she doesn't have any health problems. However one thing that I did learn from that experience is the alarming number of people who choose to abort if their child is downs, 92%!!!! I'm sorry but that is CRAZY!!!!! I can't tell you how many people are told that their child has a high possibility that they have it but they end up being born healthy babies! I could go on and on, but I won't, I just know that God wouldn't give me something that I couldn't handle. The inner strength that awakens inside of you is undeniable.
When March finally came we decided to induce on the 24th, but wouldn't you know it she decided to show up early. (She must have gotten that from her daddy.) Friday the 19th, I felt extra tired that day and took a nap, only to wake up and five minutes later my water broke, I had to call my mom to be sure that's what had happened...
I started cleaning the house like crazy, packing and repacking my bag, and calling Jerry 19 times before I could get him on the phone. He finally made it home around seven, along with mine and Jerry's family. They kept laughing and asking me when I wanted to go to the hospital, it was "in just a minute" for over an hour. When I called the triage they informed me that it wasn't a hotel, I didn't need reservations and to just come on in. After we finally got set up in the delivery room, a few hours later I was ready to push. The nurse scared my pretty bad however because my blood pressure was so high the whole time they thought I was going to have a stroke. My poor mom was petrified, and I had no idea what was going on. Jerry was so nervous he didn't realize what was going on until way later. Thankfully everything turned out just fine, and on March 20, 2010 at 7:59 am my sweet little Bunny arrived!
The first month was so amazing (OK every month is) we were able to spend so much time just holding her and loving her. I knew how much newborns needed to sleep but I would spend hours just staring at her waiting for her to wake up. Arrow started holding her head up just after two weeks, and preferred to keep it up whenever she could keep those big eyes open. In the beginning of her second month she was holding her head completely up and by the third month she was already rolling over. I'll say it, she's a genius! She was also on the colic side but in all honesty, even though she had a five o'clock meltdown everyday, it only lasted until I picked her up and held her tight so I really can't complain, I just felt bad that her tummy hurt! The next couple of months her personality really started coming out and before we knew it we not only had a beautiful little girl, but an extremely funny one too. My favorite thing that she does is when I catch her laughing at herself when she's playing by herself...she's just like me. :)
Bunny picked up using a sippy cup, sitting, crawling, pulling herself up, and standing up with lightening speed. Shes taken a few steps so far but she is getting a lot of practice do laps around the edge of her play yard.
The holidays came and went by so fast but now that we have her it really seals the deal how important quality family time is. She loves ripping paper apart so I'd say that Christmas was definitely her favorite, although it's not everyday that you get to dress up like a lobster for Arrows Lobster House!
Bunny's first word (and I really am so happy that it was) was daddy! Although my aunt Jojo informed me that this means we will definitely be having more children...
Now she says about eight words, one of which is finally mama! The cutest thing in the world that she does is call her glow worm Bink, "baby" and then proceeds to kiss her. Oh and she claps every single time she wakes up! Man I love this kid!
So here we are only a few short days before my little turkey turns one and will get to smash her face into her very own cake. Jerry better watch out, he might get a cake in the face as well! I am so thankful to have been blessed with this little girl, the love of my life. She is the sweetest, funniest, most beautiful baby girl in my world and I don't even want to imagine what my life would be like if I didn't have her!
I can't wait until her party, but before that happens from now on I'll be doing weekly SHORT (and this time I mean it!) updates or stories from our Bunny life, and posting pictures for your viewing pleasure.
For now though I've got ten tiny toe nails to paint pink while she's sleeping, although I should probably be folding some clothes...oh well!
