David loves to hear about the day he was born. Now Mary has been asking about the day she was born.
Not wanting to forever scar my daughter about the miracle of life--I give her plenty of other reasons she'll seek therapy, besides, won't middle school health be scarring enough?--I simply smile and say, "You had a lot of hair on your head."
Mary, you were late. Ten days late!
I am sensing she wants a little more to the story.
But how do you tell your three-year-old about the worst day ever???
Oh, wait. It was also the BEST DAY EVER.
So here are some thoughts for Mary, a few more details from the day she was born.
By the way, this really is for Mary. So please don't expect the scarring (literally) details. (Maybe in another post...in another life...)
A STORY OF WHEN YOU WERE BORN
Mary, you were late. Ten days late!
In dog years, that is almost two and a half months late. And in pregnant lady years, that's about 300 years late. Three hundred really dark, depressing years. I realize you don't know the difference between 10 minutes and 10 days, so let me put it this way. While we were waiting for you to come, it was like waiting as long as it takes to watch 600 Dora episodes. Wow! That means we waited a long, long time.
Fortunately, Grandma Evie was there to keep us company while we were waiting for you.
But pretty soon Grandma Evie was going to have to go home. And we were still waiting for you! I wanted to see you and hold you so badly. I prayed and asked Heavenly Father if you could come. But it still wasn't time. You needed more time inside of me.
While I was waiting for you though, Heavenly Father did something special for me: He put a picture in my head of what you looked like! Before you were born, I knew you had lots of dark hair and brown eyes. I knew you were beautiful! I was grateful that God let me see you in my mind. It helped me be a little more patient.
Finally, one night, after David was in bed, I felt like it was time for you to be born. I was kind of surprised because just that morning the doctor had said there was no sign that you were going to be born any time soon. I guess you changed your mind, and you started hurrying out.
But guess what! I didn't want you to be born that night! We knew the hospital was very crowded that night, and I was worried there wouldn't be room for us. Finally, after all that waiting, you were coming...and I wanted you to wait one more day.
I tried to pretend that you weren't coming, but I could feel that it was probably time. So Grandma Evie stayed at home with David, and Daddy and I drove to the hospital on the Air Force base. When we got there, the only room they had for us was in a storage closet! Oh no! But the doctor said you were definitely on your way, so it's a good thing we went to the hospital.
When I realized that you were going to be born that night, I was so happy! My heart was bursting with joy and anticipation. Our little girl was finally going to join our family! Soon I would be holding my little Mary, and that made me very happy, even though I was in a storage closet.
Luckily for us, there was another baby that wasn't quite ready to be born yet. So that mommy went home, and we got to move out of the storage closet into a really nice room. Yay!
Also, you started coming really fast. You suddenly turned into Speedy Mary, and you were going to be born very soon. But then guess what happened. You got stuck! Oh no! We had to wait even longer for you to be born! Yes, Mary, you made us wait even more! Three more hours. (That's like seven and a half Doras.)
You were very stuck, so the doctors thought they might have to do an operation to help you be born. Even though part of me wanted to have the operation because I really wanted you to be born, I mostly didn't want to have the operation. The doctors really wanted to avoid doing the operation. If I had the operation, I would have had to sleep through it and then I wouldn't have been able to see my beautiful baby girl right after she was born. And I would have been very sore afterwards. Also, I didn't know why, but I felt like Heavenly Father didn't want me to have the operation. So we kept waiting, to see if you could be born without the operation.
For much of that time, it was just me and your Daddy in the room. The doctors and nurses were off helping other babies be born. (It was a busy night at the hospital.)
You and I, we had to work really hard for you to be born. You were super strong. Your heart kept beating strongly. But you were still stuck. Most of the time, mommies have the job of pushing the baby out of their tummies, and it was very hard for me to keep helping you be born. I was getting very tired. And I think you were tired of being stuck. You were ready to be born!
So something very, very special happened. Do you want to know what it was? Angels came to help me and you. Isn't that neat? It was very special and reverent. For a time, in that room, it was me, your dad, you, and angels. I couldn't quite see them. But I could feel them, sense them, and I knew they were there. I will always remember the warm feeling of knowing that angels were near. It made me realize how much Heavenly Father loves me and how much He loves you. The angels helped me be strong enough. And soon you twisted and turned and got UNSTUCK. Hooray!
You were really on your way. Soon your dad could see you coming. He saw your head first. He saw that beautiful head of hair. He saw one curl, then he saw two curls, and then he saw three curls! The doctors and nurses came into the room, and a little while later...you were born!
You were born at 6 in the morning on Wednesday, October 17. You weighed almost eight pounds. I was very tired after you were born, and I already knew what you looked like, so I wanted your dad to be able to hold you.
So he did. (Your daddy loves you a lot.)
After you and I both took a long nap, Grandma Evie brought David to the hospital. After all of that waiting, Grandma Evie got to see you and hold you before she had to go back to Texas!
David was super excited to meet you too. It was a special moment. You two recognized each other. I think you were good friends up in heaven before you came into our family. It was obvious you already knew each other, and you were happy to be together again.
Nowadays, even when you fight with each other, I know that the two of you have a special connection. You wanted to be brother and sister together in our family.
Mary, our family officially began on April 18, 2002 when Mommy and Daddy got married. We felt a little more like a family when David was born. But it was when you--our smart, beautiful, funny girl--were born that we finally really felt like a family.
We love you, Mary Christine.
