~New Years Day ~ 17 Years Ago~

17 years ago today I made my 5th or 6th trip to the hospital because of this lovey! Her due date was January 22nd - on December 20th, after 4 different trips to the hospital, my doctor sent me to the hospital to have my C-Section - the baby was over 7lbs and had been trying to join us for weeks. If all went well, the new baby and I would join Matt and DH on the 24th! just in time for Christmas! It was a bittersweet day as my beloved grandmother had passed away on December 20th (many years before, but dearly remembered always). Upon arriving at the hospital, and over the course of MANY, MANY hours, I was visited by various doctors and nurses and eventually the head of the OB department. He finally came in after 7 hours of waiting for the OR to tell me that "the baby wasn't ready to be delivered, he was putting me on medication to stop my labor and sending me home". The nightmare begins here...... (I found out weeks later from staff at the hospital that I was sent home because the doctor did not want to do the surgery that night, the floors were short staffed and a C-section would have put too much of a strain on them so close to Christmas - fury doesn't cover it). The "medication" caused my heart to race, caused me to pass out and made me extremely ill. It was quite possibly the worst Christmas I have ever had. I can't remember ever feeling so "wrong". After 11 days of this, my doctor told me to stop taking it. Melyssa wasted no time at all in making her entrance. She was a beautiful baby and also the most difficult out of the 4! She had colic, her time clock was backwards, she slept all day, screamed all night and when all of this passed she terrorized her brother - SHE WAS A HORROR SHOW! I am happy to say that at the age of approximately 2 1/2 or 3 she did a complete turn around and was the most enjoyable child ever. She was quick-witted, happy, strong-willed, overbearing at times, opinionated and charming! She has always been "old" for her years, very mature and SO MUCH fun! She has turned into quite the young woman. Her smile lights up a room! She is her "own" person! She received permission to wear pants to her semi-formal and all of her decked out friends made a huge deal out of her because her hair was out of it's bun and she didn't have on sweats or jeans! She is an honors student, an athlete - varsity softball as a freshman, varsity fieldhockey as a sophmore, jv basketball, she is a softball coach, a mentor to the little girls, a volunteer. Her school has nominated her to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine. She visits her grandmothers all the time, drives her sisters around, helps them with their homework, helps me with the housework, laundry and cooking and maintains her place on the honor roll. She is still very strong willed, her own person - but she is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met in my life. She is a great role model for her younger sisters. She and I have "movie nights" sometimes with her friends, sometimes just us - she is fun to be with. She is not perfect, but she is loved and respected by most everyone that gets to know her, and I am proud to call her my daughter. I won't take credit for who she is, she just IS and I love her more than I could possibly find the words to express that love with! I have been blessed and I am SO VERY GRATEFUL! Happy Birthday Melyssa what a wonderful New Years Gift you were and are! - I love you!