Birthday Girl

Amelia Korynn is one year old today! What a fast year. All day, I've been thinking, "What was I doing at this exact time one year ago?" This morning, I was thinking about when we first got to the hospital. I had an awesome corner room that overlooked the Dallas skyline and the Trinity River. I couldn't have picked a room with a better view. As the first hours ticked by, I thought, "This isn't so bad. Piece of cake!" Wesley was there with me. My friend Jill and her boyfriend Greg were there also. As the day went on, Mom, Preston, Carol Ann, Marcus, Dad, and Bev all arrived. My memory gets a little hazy after about twelve hours in when they gave me the pitocin. Holy cow! No, no, no! I associate pitocin with the onset of back labor, so I don't want that again if possible. If anyone would like a graphic description of what it feels like to have your spine ripped out, I got ya covered. It's about 9:3o this evening, and at this point I was pushing. I don't really remember what I said to most anyone else, but I remember talking to the baby in my belly. I kept thinking, "Come on baby girl, we can do this!" At one point, the epidural ran out. Generally, they just let the medicine run out and you keep pushing so that you can feel how to do it. My back labor was severe enough that the doctor had to have the anesthesiologist hook up another pack of medicine for the epidural. One of the nurses commented that she had never seen back labor like that. Sheesh. Back labor sucks, and don't let anyone tell ya different! The doctor told me that she usually lets moms push for two hours. If there isn't sufficient progress at that time, she would want to do a C-section. No! I knew that if I went into the OR too late at night, Mia wouldn't be born on my brother Tyler's birthday. I figured that if Mia broke my water a week early on his birthday, then she must want to have a birthday buddy. The doctor allowed me to keep going, and I did it! 21.5 hours after the water broke (including three hours of pushing) and with the help of "the vacuum", my beautiful girl made her debut into the world at 11:39pm. Whew! It was hard work, but the result is so worth it!

I took Mia for her one year checkup with Dr. Curry today. All of her measurements are good. She was 21 lb. 8 oz. and 29 1/2" long. She's right at 50% for both measurements. Dr. Curry checked her all over and asked a few questions. He was pleased with her progress, and said she is doing great! We go back for the next checkup at 15 months.

Amelia on the day we brought her home from the hospital.
Amelia at 1 year old (52 weeks)