This is a long post, so please feel free to skim, partly read, or not at all.
Today, December 27, 2010 you are 24 days old! The last 24 days have been so wonderfully amazing. I cannot even begin to describe to you the love your father and I have for you. You will come to understand this when you have children of your own. However, I have jumped ahead of myself a bit. Let me start by telling you about the last ten months! I found out we were going to have a baby in April of 2010. Being pregnant with you went failry well for the most part. Although I was sick and tired for the first three months, your dad and I were nothing but excited from the beginning. As the first trimester turned into the second, I was starting to gain more energy and an appetite. The third trimester was much like the first, except I was much more uncomfortable and much more tired. I worked up until the first week of December. The plan was to take the last two weeks off before you were born. The date expected was December 18th. I figured that if I my last day December 3, 2010 was my last day, that would leave me plenty of time to get last minute tasks done before your arrival. However, it seems that you, like your mommy, you did not want to arrive on time, or late. You wanted to come early. Like mother like daughter I guess. So on December 2, 2010 your dad and I went about our day as planned. We both went to work, and because it was a Thursday, your dad was scheduled to go to the gym. I had stopped going to the gym two days prior. Anyway there were some errands we had to get done before dad’s class started, so I decided that I would just wait at the gym for dad to finish his workout. Well I am glad I was with dad because while sitting on the gym floor waiting, my water broke. It seems that you were a little anxious to make your appearance into the world!
At 7:30 pm my water broke, and by 7:45 we were running down the hall to labor and delivery. At first I wasn’t sure if my water had broken. I thought maybe I accidently peed myself, but as it turned out my water had definitely broke. For about two weeks prior people had been asking me if I had a hospital bag packed, of course being the procrastinator I am, I hadn’t packed. I thought why would I have it packed I still had two weeks to go. Anyway you called my bluff because I was not prepared at all. Of course it really wouldn’t have had mattered if I had one because we were not at home to grab the bag and we were using Aunt Lori and Uncle John’s car. Anyway so there we were, your dad and I sitting in labor and delivery waiting. After I had changed into a very nice hospital gown, the very nice nurse hooked me up to an IV. That was it, that hospital bed was home until you decided to make an entrance. Now after my water broke I thought I had limited amount of time to get to the hospital before you decided to come out, however I was wrong. After I was admitted, changed and hooked up, they told me I was only 1 cm dilated! 1 CM?!! I still had 9 more to go, I knew this would take a while. Dad went home to grab a few things before the real action started. Not long after, Aunt Lori and Uncle John came by to make sure things were ok. Aunt Lori decided to stay and help me push. Daddy and Lori were my coaches, and what big helps they were! After what seemed like an eternity it was finally time to push you out. Now I wanted to be hero like and do it all naturally, but listen there are no medals for doing it this way, and when you get pregnant remember this! There is nothing wrong with getting an epidural! It makes life a whole lot easier! Anyway so at 530 am it was time push. I pushed for what seemed like forever, really it was only an hour, and the doctor told me you needed to come down one more cm or I would have to have a C-section. Something I was trying to avoid, so I pushed harder than I have ever pushed. I pushed so hard I thought my eyes were going to pop out. Anyway I did it, I pushed you far enough down that you were making your way out. At 7:28 am on December 3, 2010 you were born. You weighed 6lbs and 13 ounces.
That first moment, when you let out that cry, it is hard to describe to you the emotions that we felt. As soon as we looked into your eyes, the pure joy, happiness and love that overwhelmed us was so enormous! Those emotions have stayed with us, and have been growing more every day! We spent four days in the hospital. Daddy stayed with us the whole time, taking care of us! He is such a great father and husband! While taking care of us, he also made sure that your grandparents out west knew of our great news! He called everyone we knew. Everyone was so thrilled. It was a bitter sweet time. Your Grampie and Grammie McCoy were not able to make it out to see you right away, but we made plans to see them that spring. On December 6 we arrived home to a very happy Grandma and Grandpa Graham. They came all the way from Florida to meet you! Like your dad and I, there were so happy you were finally here!
The first few days of your life were spent going to and from the hospital. You had quite the case of jaundice, and so we had to have you checked out daily to make sure it was going down. You spent at least four days in a billi Rubin bed, kind of like a tanning bed for babies! Though the bed was helping you, it was hard to leave you in that bed and not hold you. However those days helped enormously because it wasn’t long before the jaundice was on a steady decline! The next few weeks after that were very trying. Funnily enough you became the easiest part! Five days after you were born my mom, your grandma, died due to cardiac arrest. She was sick and didn’t realize it, and one day she just passed away at her home by herself. Well this was a quite a shock to my system. Although I had not seen my mom in a year, I was very close to her. We called her the minute you were born and holy was she excited! Daddy had sent pictures of you to everyone as soon as the next day via email, but grandma didn’t own a computer, so my mission was to send her pictures of her new granddaughter as soon as possible. Unfortunately timing was against us, and we were unable to send pictures in time. Grandma lived across the country, so even if I had put pictures in the mail, they would have not reached her in time. You would have loved her. She was funny, loving and caring. She was so excited to hear about you, and I know she would have loved to meet you. I know she is up in heaven looking down on you. She is your guardian angel, and you, Allie, are mine, you have kept me calm and focused through the trying times. Your dad also has been so awesome throughout everything. He is so helpful and supportive. There are no words to describe how much I love you and your dad! So to say the least December was a very eventful and bitter sweet month!
Your first Christmas was a good one. Grandma and Grandpa Graham were able to spend it with us. For only being three weeks old you sure did get spoiled. Your grandma D and Aunt Brandy and Uncle Kendall sure did spoil you, as did your grandma and grandpa graham! Aunt Lori and Uncle John came over for dinner, and while you slept, we played games, talked and laughed. It was a great holiday season. A little rough at times due to the unfortunate situation of grandma, but we managed to get through it! You made it a great holiday!
That is what went on through December. I cannot believe how much you have changed in 24 days! You get cuter and cuter as the days go on. It is heart wrenching how cute you are, and how much we love you. It’s amazing to me how you can love someone in such a short period of time. I mean I fell in love with your dad quickly, but not that quickly. We are talking seconds here, from the moment I laid eyes on you I fell in love with you! You are such a good baby. You sleep so well at night. You are not fussy. You are just a happy go lucky baby! It is also amazing how much personality you have acquired in 24 days. Sometimes I forget that you are a newborn because you have the greatest personality and mannerisms I have ever seen. They crack me up! You make us all laugh. We could watch you for hours, and sometimes we do! I have a feeling you will be a little daddy’s girl!
