Has it really been 2 years already? Unbelievably, it has. We celebrated Grace's second birthday yesterday. It seems like only yesterday that we were going to the hospital, full of excitement and anticipation - and a little bit of fear. Would she be all right? Was it too early? How on earth would we adjst to having three kids? Two kids and two parents is fine, but three kids means you're outnumbered!
I remember every detail of that day. I remember getting to the hospital and it hitting me - I was going to be having surgery in a couple of hours. I would have a new daughter, and we would be starting over with the whole diaper and breastfeeding thing. But then once she arrived, the joy of having her here outshone all the possible sacrifices. Seeing her in her daddy's arms for the first time was such a beautiful sight!
She was 5 pounds 14 ounces when she was born. She was tiny compared to the other babies on the floor - but she was huge to me. Adam and Marie had been born at 26 weeks, and they were only 1 pound 9 ounces each. When they arrived, they were immediately taken down to the NICU and baptised, "just in case." We didn't get to enjoy those first weeks as new parents as it should be done, instead we got to go down to the hospital every day to see how they had done over the night. It was difficult at first, because we had lost our son Nicholas in that same NICU, just 11 days after his birth. They were triplets, and he was born five days before the other two. Those five days made all the difference in the world.
So it was such a different experience this time around. Grace went to the nursery for observation while I recovered and was taken up to my room. She came to the room around 8 PM and stayed with me the rest of my stay in the hospital. What a different experience it is to have a healthy baby than a premature one!
Gracie has grown up quite a bit since that day. She runs around and dances, talks a little bit and loves to cuddle. Her passion appears to be shoes, and it is one of the few words she can reliably say and be understood. Her favorite present has been six pairs of plastic dress-up shoes. Maybe one day she'll graduate to Nike's and Jimmy Choo, but for now Wal-Mart seems to be OK with her.
Happy birthday, Grace!
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