As most of you know, and much to her Papa Smith's chagrin, Haley is a Leap Day baby. People ask me all the time, "don't you feel sorry for her, she only gets a birthday every 4 years" or "when are you going to celebrate it" Well my answer to that is Haley is just so special that it takes two days to celebrate her birthday this year, especially because its her First birthday!! I'm not sure how we will do it in the future. I have heard some Leap Day babies say they celebrate on March 1st because it is the day after the 28th, and they were born the day after February 28th. I've also thought of just celebrating it when its more convenient while she is too young to care then letting her pick her birthday on the off years. I don't know what we will end up with, but for this year it TWO BIRTHDAYS!!!!
I am, of course, getting nostalgic as the anniversary of her birth approaches. This time last year I was getting ready to be admitted to the hospital for induction. Will and I went to eat at Outback before going to the hospital. A "last meal" of sorts for me, I knew it would be a clear liquid diet for me until Haley was born, I was going to enjoy myself one more time!!!! And it would also be our last meal alone, just the two of us. The next time we ate together two would then be three. I remember being so nervous when we checked in at the hospital, it was weird being a patient for once. It was an unexpected emotion for me, I am used to being in a hospital, I've worked in one for what seems like an eternity!!! But I was all of a sudden freaked out by being in the hospital. Weird putting on that hideous gown, weird laying in that horribly uncomfortable bed, weird being the one the IV was going in (that hurts a lot more than I ever thought it would!!), weird being the one the nurse checks on. And then I thought I would be brave and stoic and do this without an epidural, I would be that crunchy granola mom who did it "au naturale"!!!! HA!!! Bring that epidural STAT next time!!!! Things didn't go at all like I had envisioned. I had dreamy thoughts of my water breaking at home in the middle of the night and Will driving franticly to the hospital. Images of us walking in the hallways, stopping to "breathe" through contractions, sitting and bouncing on the birthing ball, and most of all it being quick. Instead I was almost literally chained to the bed because the slightest movement sent my blood pressure through the roof, I could only get up to pee. Labor progressed very slowly. I was technically in labor for over 24 hours. Don't get me wrong, things could have been WAY worse, but it was not like I had imagined. And this wouldn't be the first time having a baby wouldn't be like I imagined. Nothing happens like the Hallmark card vision in your head when it comes to parenthood!!!
And then came Haley. Some of you may not know, or remember, that Haley's middle name was originally going to be Grayce. But the second she was born, Will and I looked at each other and said together...."Haley Gray". She was so much smaller than I had expected. The ultrasounds were all predicting a 9lb baby. She weighed in at exactly 7 pounds. I would have never thought I would have a baby that small, thanks for the petite genes Martha, a 9lb baby would not have been fun to birth!!!! She was so calm and quite that first night, she just laid in the bassinet and took in the new world around her quietly. It was just a preview of her personality to come. She is normally the most laid back baby you could imagine.
Everyone was right, there is nothing like the birth of your child. Your life changes in an instant, and all for the good. You fall instantly in love with this person that you just met. It is amazing!!!!
Well, the big party was today. It was an all out PINK extravaganza, pink giraffes to be exact. The theme of her nursery was jungle animals, I thought I would bring it full circle and do a giraffe theme for her first birthday. For those that came to the party, thank you so much for coming and sharing this special day with our little family. I will post pictures of the event hopefully by tomorrow.
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