Today is a very special day.
Actually, every day is a special day for
us. God has blessed us with two
beautiful children. But like with any
relationship, parenthood has not been easy.
When Bill and I began dating, we knew that we
wanted to have a family together. After
our son was born, I faced many difficulties including Post Partum
Depression. But with the help of my
husband and God, I over came my depression and made a life changing
decision. I vowed to try very hard to be
the best mother I could be for my son and that he was never going to feel alone
and unwanted.
I was no longer going to
dwell on my mother's decision to disown me.
In order to be a better person,
wife and mother, I needed to move past that.
When my husband came to me with the idea of adding
one more bundle of joy to our family, I had many doubts. Especially, when I had finally managed to keep
up with a full time job, motherhood and of course my wifely duties.
When we
became pregnant, I was static but that came to a stop when we lost the
pregnancy at 12 weeks. While it was difficult,
physically and emotionally, we decided to try again. Keeping in mind that we did lose one pregnancy before we were able to have our son.
After many months of trying, we became
pregnant for the fourth time. But by 16
weeks we were given the very sad news that it was not a liable pregnancy and
that it was a matter of time before I started the process of miscarrying. When it eventually happened, I was
distraught and emotionally I was exhausted.
I decided not to try again, and accepted the fact that God only wanted me
to have one child.
I remember the day my best friend, Maria called
me. It was early morning and I had just
walked into my office. She needed to
take a pregnancy test but didn't want to do it alone.
Therefore, she persuaded me to do one with her,
even though I was sure it was a waste of money and a perfectly good pregnancy test because I knew nothing was there
waiting for me to discover. We argued while we were
on the phone, okay more like I wined the entire time while we were waiting for
results of the home pregnancy test, I
was flabbergasted by the two little pink lines telling me to "shut up and
think again". I couldn't believe
it, we were BOTH pregnant!
While I didn't share the news right away with my
husband, I did call my Doctor right away.
My husband didn't find out until October 2007. I didn't want him to suffer another
heartbreak; instead, I decided to live in fear alone until I was 100% sure that everything was good. So, Thank You Mom and Mari for keeping my
secret, which, if you asked my husband, is the only secret I have been able to
keep from him. Yeah, I can't keep a
secret from him!
But my happiness was short lived. On, November 2007 I was put on mandatory bed
rest, I was not allowed to work or do the smallest task. I was bed bound due to the lack of amniotic fluid,
our inability to gain weight and the baby's inability to grow at a proper rate. It didn't matter how much I ate, how much I
drank, nothing helped. We had to go through bi-weekly
ultrasounds and we were at the doctor's office weekly to monitor the baby's
heart rate and movement. I was terrified every day.
But our baby was showing us even then that she was a
fighter. By February 1st, I had grown restless, and it
was clear that our baby felt the same way.
On February 7th, after another ultrasound, we
discovered Ms. Bree was faced the right away and ready to come so I decided to give her a hand! How you ask? I walked
the mall with a huge pretzel in one hand and a jug of water in the other. By 8 pm, my contractions were strong and
steady and Grandmother had finally arrived from North Carolina to take care of
little man. I was admitted around 9:30
p.m. that night and I was ready to rock and roll! However, our little Bree was not! Ms. Bree had fallen asleep, flipped the wrong
way and my contractions had stopped. At
5 a.m. and after 9 hours of labor, I was tired, hungry (okay I was mainly
hungry) and ready to push that lazy baby out but I couldn't since she was
facing the wrong way.
The nurses tried everything to get her to
move to no avail, my doctor had no other choice but to break the water and try
to move her but my baby was a stubborn baby!
Ms. Bree made her entrance right before lunch
time at 11:03 am weighting 5 lb 10 oz.
I
honestly think she smelled the food or maybe it was me telling her that she needed
to come out because mommy wanted to eat!
And if you know me, than you know that nothing comes between me and my
food.
Little Billy met his sister on the evening on
February 8th. While he wanted a little brother, he was more
than happy to have a little sister.
Ms.
Bree was born with a head full of straight hair as well as "infant jaundice",
which is a yellow discoloration in a newborn baby's skin and eyes. This usually occurs because the baby's blood
contains an excess of bilirubin (bil-ih-ROO-bin), a
yellow-colored pigment of red blood cells. Infant jaundice is a common condition,
particularly in babies born before 38 weeks gestation (preterm babies). She had to
spend some time under the direct sun.
Ms. Bree was not all that well for her first
birthday but, the fevers, congestion and the teething didn't stop her from
enjoying her first cake! Ms. Bree started experiencing lots of colds and ear infections.
A few days before her second birthday, Ms. Bree
and Little Man became ill with the Flu.
While our son responded well to the antibiotics and breathing
treatments, our little princess actually developed pneumonia and had to be
hospitalized for a week. Her inability to eat, drink and use the bathroom became an issue. During our stay at the hospital, she had many wonderful nurses and around the clock care. But even during this difficult time, she never stopped smiling and her brother did everything he could to make her smile.
After her recovery, Ms. Bree had surgery to
implant the ear tubes and remove her adenoids.
She thrived after the surgery.
She began to talk and began to sleep through the night. I no longer had to make sure she was laying
the right way in order for her to breath.
But that really never stopped me from looking at our video monitor. I mean, I'm super paranoid, I'm sure that if
you look up the word you will see a photo of me!
Ms. Bree loves to dance and sing. She is a girly girl but she can easily switch
and play rough with the boys. The
perfect balance if you ask me.
5th Birthday Celebration- Frozen Theme
And who can forget her Frozen Birthday Party! She celebrated her birthday with many of her classmates.
To read more about this amazing bash click here: Her Frozen-5th-Birthday Celebration
6th Birthday Celebration- Barbie Theme
This was the year we went all out. All the DIY decorations, cake and
treats. Her special outfit designed by Miss. Teeny Fab Couture and her very special Barbie Cookies made by Tiffany's Homemade.
To see the full post please click here: Her 6th Barbie Birthday Party.
7th Birthday Celebration- Monster High Theme
We are so glad that our daughter was able to celebrate her birthday with her family and close friends. Ms. Bree is due to have surgery in March 2016. Please continue to pray for our little angel. We pray that her inexplicable fevers stay away and that the surgery helps her body get rid of everything that is currently weakening her system. And that after the surgery she is able to enjoy her childhood even more.
A
Special Letter to My Daughter
Dear Bree:
You are now seven
years old and truly I can't believe it.
I remember the day I first held you in my arms. You were so small, skin so soft and
delicate. Trust me when I say that your
father will always be wrapped around your little finger. You may not know what that means now, but one day
you will know what that means.
You have grown into a
beautiful little girl who loves to smile, who loves God and always chooses to
do right thing. You are independent,
caring and talented in many ways. Your
love and dedication to art and dance surprises me.
Your ability to see
the best in everything or everyone shows me every day how kind your heart truly
is. Please continue to do that. God has given you a kind heart full of joy
that people find very hard to ignore.
Your laugh is infectious. But
when the time comes, the time when you experience cruelty and rejection, don't
forget that I will always be there for you.
There are many things in this world that I will not be able to protect
you from or fix, but I will always be there to comfort you.
I know I'm not
perfect, I know I scream a lot and I promise to do better. Don't ever be afraid to share things with me,
because I will never judge.
And if one day a boy
breaks your heart and makes you feel less, we will tell your father and he can go
hunting.
I pray every day that
you never stop caring for your brother, he may not tell you this, but he loves
you very much. You are his baby sister
and he will always be your older brother.
You are very special
to us, even when we are mad at each other, okay, I have to think about this for
a minute because we are never mad at each other… You are perfect, from your big
hair, tan skin and toothless smile, don't ever forget that. I promise to improve as a Mother and to
always be your friend. You are my baby
girl, my only girl and I will always love you no matter what. Your
father and I are so blessed to have you in our lives, our love for you will
never end, will never falter, this is an everlasting love!
