Happy Birthday Amelia Kate. . .a bit late. . .

Poor Amelia. She's getting lost in the shuffle again this week! Yesterday was her 4th b-day and so far the only special thing she gotten to do is go to see the doc for her check-up. We planned to do something fun today but just got a call that a family member of someone in our small group died or is about to die so we are taking care of kids and VBS commitments instead and general running around instead.

So Amelia Kate. Where to begin?! As many of you know, we were trying to have a second baby for years after Caroline was born. After 18 months of drugs and injections and really embarrassing (yet funny!) procedures with the fertility doc, it just never happened. So we started to pursue adding to our family through adoption. We were about 1/2 through the process when I found out I was preggers. Shocked the heck out of me! I called my fertility doc and asked him what he thought. His question was, "Have you changed your body chemistry at all? Quit smoking? Lose a lot of weight? Quick drinking?" Well, I have never been a smoker, still just a "social" drinker, but hey! I did join WW and lose 40 pounds. He guessed that was what did it for me. He said the healthier lifestyle~mostly reduction in sugar intake~stabilized my body enough to ovulate regularly. (And boy did it ever~got preggers 2 more times with very little effort!)

Fast forward to June of 2003. I was a few days from my due date and just as miserable as a very pregnant woman can be. I went in for my appointment hoping that there was enough "action" to get me sent to the hospital. No such luck. Upon hearing that news I did what we all would have done in that situation~I burst into tears. Just sobbing, "I can't be pregnant anymore!"

Doc felt sorry for me and says, "Baby is not moving real well, right?"

Me: "Um, no. Baby is moving fine." I was a bit confused.

Doc: Winking and writing a scipt, "Baby is not moving, RIGHT?"

Me: Getting it now. "Oh no. No baby moving."

So she sent me to the hospital for a bio-physical profile which measures many things including level of movement. Wouldn't you know it, she wasn't moving enough! She actually flunked the fetal movement part of the test. So I went in the next night to be induced. Aunt Christine showed up at about 8 am and proceeded to be a really great coach/doula. She had be walking the halls, sitting on a huge bouncy ball, and on my hands and knees at one point. Tim slept through most of this. Around 1pm they decided to go get lunch thinking I still had awhile to go. The returned to my water broken with the discovery of menconium, lots of pain and me begging for my epidural. Once my good ole epidural was in, it was great! They had called the Neonatologist since there was menconium and warned us I wouldn't get to see her right away since they wanted to clear her airway. She was born at 3:29 and no one would tell me if it was a boy or girl. I remember asking Christine and her answer was "I can't tell." So NOT what you want to hear. Finally a nurse said she's was a girl.

Amelia has been a firecracker every since that day! She screamed though her first bath that day and has hated the water ever since. These days she won't play outside because she figures if she doesn't get dirty, she won't need a bath. Hates to swim. Loves to play computer games and dress-up. Her plans for the future include marrying Matt-Matt and being a princess as a full-time job. We love her to pieces!