Meet Big A

Big A, well, she is a handful, always has been. I remember TTC her - Hubby was working in another state and fate brought him close by. I remember going home at lunch and using the next to last OPK and watching those two beautiful lines appear. Hubby and I met later that night and well ....10 days later two more beautiful lines appeared, only this wasn't an OPK, this was a HPT. Uh, oh! We did it.....we are going to have a baby. As soon as my eyes saw those two lines, Big A announced her presence with authority. I instantly began to suffer with morning sickness. Only, it was all day/night sickness. Naive as I was I began to mark off the days on my calendar for my 2T. 13 weeks, I could do this.......I only needed to make it for 'X' amount of days. What someone didn't tell me was 20% of women have morning sickness their entire pregnancy. Guess what percentage I fell in? YEP!!! I was sick everyday. I threw up atleast once everyday. I didn't feel her move, I felt her dance!!! She knew I feared the worst and she let me know everyday she was there, alive and healthy, even at 1:30am when all I wanted to do was sleep and all she wanted to do was dance! It was beautiful. She knew all my fears and comforted every one of them. Even the birthing experience....... By the 4 month in-utero, Big A and I had settled into a routine. Alarm at 5:30am, shower at 5:35am. Every morning I would rub my tummy and we would talk about her dancing all thru out the night and what the new day would bring for us. And then we would talk about her and the day that would be her birthday. I told her Mommy was rookie and please be gentle on her special day. She would kick me to let me know she understood. If I didn't feel a kick, I would patiently until it was time for me to leave for work, which was around 7am. Still no response, I would rub my tummy and tell her she was just wanting to hear her favorite song.........immediately after turning on the CD, kick, kick. It was one of the most incredible feelings.

Big A's birthday. This day started out as all the others, only a tiny bit earlier. Big A was being induced and we had to be at the hospital by 6am. I remember standing in the shower, rubbing my tummy telling her all about the day and asking again for her to be gentle. She begin to dance, which made me cry, b/c I knew.......this was the last morning like this one. In-utero she was safe from the harsh world. In- utero she was with me 24/7. In-utero she was strong, healthy and alive. I was uncertain what the next 24 hours would be like and I was scared.

6am -checked into the hospital.
8am - Dr. M comes in and meets my hubby for the first time (hubby worked out of state)
8:30am - Dr. M breaks my water and I am hooked up to antibiotics b/c I am group B +
9:30 am - Off the IV and start walking to get labor moving on my own.
11am - no change we start pitocin
12pm - Starting to feel contractions, I'm 4 cm, 80% effaced
1pm- I am 6cm, still 80% effaced and I want drugs, NOW!!!!
1:30pm - Ahhhh, that is much better, I think I want to sleep now.
3:30pm- I am 7cm, still only 80% effaced, nurse tells the doc she will see him after office hours.
4pm- I am 10cm, 100% effaced, the nurse is calling the doc, who has just made it back to his practice.
4:20pm- Dr. M is back and it is time to push.
4:50pm- Big A is here, she scores 8/9 on her APGAR

5Pm - We are a family! She is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!! And On, my, my morning sickness is finally gone. :)

Big A weighed 6lbs and 6oz at birth. And don't let her fool you - she may have been tiny at birth, but OMGoodness, she is 3y/o going on 30!!

She had reflux as an infant so it took us about 8 weeks to get it under control. She never slept well. She slept thru the night 1x at 10 months old and did not do it again until the night I came home from the hospital with "Lil A". I remember being pregnant with Lil A, rubbing my tummy, looking at Big A saying - Look! One of you is going to sleep thru the night, I don't care which one, you two talk about and make a decision, but one of you will need to sleep thru the night!

Big A is still tiny. She is 3 and only wears a 2T. She is ALL muscle, there is not an ounce of fat on her. We affectionately call her the tornado b/c she moves ALL the time. She is on the go from the moment her feet hit the floor at 6am until her head hits the pillow at 8:30pm.

She is beautiful, ALL girl, smart as a whip, stubborn as a mule (she gets that from hubby, LOL!) and one of the most loving children I know. She has 'that' look that would give Scarlett O'Hara a run for her money.