Princess Bug's Birthday

On Tuesday, my Princess Bug turned 10. Wow. Where did those years go?

Princess Bug came to us after four years of marriage and two pregnancy losses. To say that she was much prayed for and much anticipated would be an understatement. I was induced 10 days early, when it was discovered that she was dangerously low on amniotic fluid (anything less than 5ccm is grounds for induction, she had 1.6ccm). After about 7 hours of labor, Princess Bug began to show signs of stress. After awhile, her heart rate stopped returning to baseline after contractions. I still had several hours of labor to go before she would arrive on her own, so we decided to go get her. Just before 11pm they started prepping me for our unscheduled C-section. (I prefer to call it unscheduled rather than emergency. Emergency was the room down the hall. A nurse popped her head into my room to inform the staff there that they had lost the baby's heart tone and were go in NOW.) Princess Bug arrived by c-section 11:35 pm. She was such a tiny thing, only 6lbs. 2oz.


Princess Bug a few days old.

Princess Bug's safe arrival was without a doubt one of the miracles of my life. She has brought us so much joy. It's truly amazing to watch her grow and learn. I can't imagine my life without her. She's becoming quite an accomplished young lady, with burgeoning talents in photography, art and writing. She's a loyal and sensitive friend. I can't tell you the number of little girls that she regularly refers to as "my best friend". She's smart and loves to read and listen to audio books. Her vocabulary and use of language frequently surprises me and makes me smile. She's developing quite the sense of humor and she has a vivid imagination. And to top it all off, the girl is just beautiful, inside and out.

It's such a wonderful blessing to be her mom.


Princess Bug (3) & Sunshine Boy (almost 1)



Princess Bug at 5. One of my all time favorite pictures of her.

(I've got to run now, but I just didn't want to take any longer to post this than I already have. I'll be back to add more pictures a little later.)