8 years old?!

Well, it happened. My "baby" girl turned 8! Is this possible? Maybe I should count again to be sure...one, two, three, four, five, six, seven...eight. Sigh...it's true. Well, even thought I'm a little sad about Drue turning 8, I'm also very excited for her. She is just such a sweet, thoughtful, loving little girl. I am so blessed! Her birthday was Saturday. I think she had a pretty great day. We had a party for her Saturday night with girls AND boys! More details on that and pictures to come ASAP!

When I picked Drue up from school Friday, we started playing a game where all through the night (and weekend) I would say "8 years ago RIGHT NOW I was..." It was so fun to talk about and remember that special time! You see, Friday marked 8 years since my actual due date, Feb 5th. I knew she wasn't budging that day, but I was scheduled to be induced the next morning. So, what was I doing on Feb 5, 2002 you ask? Well, I was driving around town looking for something to bring my baby girl home in, of course! Haha! Have I mentioned yet that i'm a procrastinator? ;)

I set out that afternoon to find SOMETHING to bring my precious little darling home in. Forget the fact that I had already had 3 showers and had LOTS of clothes to choose from. For some reason I felt that I needed to pick out an outfit myself....on Feb 5th. So I piled my 9-months-pregnant self into my little 2-door Honda Civic and off I went. I went EVERYWHERE and I found NOTHING! While shopping, I was just waiting for someone to ask me when I was due. I couldn't wait! I mean, for my whole pregnancy, I think someone had asked me when I was due every single day. And today...haha...today the joke would be on them. Today only, I would get to say that word that would surprise them. The one that would make them take a step back as if I might break. That word that would let them know I was now a pregnancy expert! "Oh, when am I due you ask? TODAY!!" And even though I was asked every single day throughout my pregnancy....not one single person in the 87 stores I went to asked me when I was due on my due date!! Geez...take away a pregnant girl's joy.

So anyway, somehow I pulled myself together from the disappointment and decided to head home. I honestly can't remember what my plan was at the time. I can't remember if I decided I could look through that pile of adorable clothes that we had one more time or if I was going to send someone else to look for a come-home outfit or what, but home I headed anyway. And as I was going home, a beautiful snow started to fall. It was exciting since it usually only snows once or twice here every year. I went home and waited for Drue's dad (we'll call him S) to get off work. He came and got me when he got off work. I really don't remember what we did during that evening except we went to hang out at a friend's house! What in the world were we thinking? Dumb teenagers. I do, however, remember that we went by Sonic on our way in order to get a Route 44 cup of ice for me. I couldn't eat after midnight, so I wanted to be prepared with my ice! Then we proceeded to our friend's house. The snow was steadily falling the whole time. And although it grew increasingly beautiful, I grew increasingly worried! I am a bit of a worrier as it is, but throw in 9 mos pregnant, snow, and hills....yeah, I was getting a little stressed! S said his 4-wheel drive was out and he wasn't sure if we could get home. WHAT?! Excuse me, but I have to be at the hospital at 6:30 am and you're not sure if we can get home?! Try again! Finally S decided we would try to go. I seriously think it must have been 2:00 am when we got home. Ridiculous.

Once safely in my own house, I began to um...well...pack my back for the hospital. Yes, 4 hours before I was supposed to be there. I then tried to lay down. S had been asleep since the minute we walked in the door! How was he sleeping?! Hello...we were about to have a BABY! Didn't he know that?! I just could NOT go to sleep. I was so nervous. And so excited. And so scared. I never did get to sleep that night. I got up and took a shower. FINALLY a million years later, my parents and S got up too. Then we all piled in and headed....very slowly...to the hospital.

My baby girl was born at 4:21 pm on Wednesday, Feb 6, 2002. I felt so blessed that day. I remember feeling that new love just radiating out of me....the love I had never known before. She was so precious. All of our friends and family came to see us...well ok, they came to see Drue. But no one did get to see her. She had fluid in her lungs and they immediately took her away from us. We spent 3 nights in the hospital. We finally got to go home on Saturday.

I still feel that love for her....only it is so much stronger than I ever imagined. She is such an amazing little girl. Any pain that I had to go through was well worth it! I don't know how I got so lucky as to have this wonderful little child, but I thank the Lord for her daily! Even though we have to go through some tough experiences in life, hopefully sometimes we come out of them better than when we started. I never planned to be pregnant at 17 and a mom at 18, but that is how it happened. How comforting that God does have a plan for our lives. Even though we may stray off the course sometimes, He's right there with us "recalculating" our route like a GPS! :) Thank you, Lord, for loving me. And thank you, Lord, for Drue!

Happy Birthday Drue!! :)