It's been ONE YEAR since you came to me...

As I sat for a brief moment tonight watching The Voice, it hit me...One year ago tonight I was sitting on the couch, watching The Voice, timing contractions, trying to decide if they were good enough to be worthy of going to the Hospital.

Then I was reminded.....after Mayzie was born, I promised I'd share her birth story.  Hmm, how embarrassing, seems I never got around to it.  Soooo, how bout a little story of her birth, for her BIRTHDAY!

It is absolutely unbelievable to me that my beautiful, perfect, AMAZING MAYZIE is ONE YEAR OLD today.  Where did the time go. 

How did this sweet, sweet little alien munchkin:

Become this:

 soooo quickly?

April 2, 2012...I went in for my visit to the doc.  I'd been dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced for a week.  He went ahead and stripped my membrane (THAT was most unpleasant) and then we set up my "inducement" for Friday April 5. But the truth was, Jere was having NONE of it.  He was antsy, he wanted this baby out. He was begging me to do the castor oil and orange pop.  I had decided I didn't want to this time, and I really didn't.  We went on some errands and I had a few huge, painful contractions. I thought that was promising.  But then it seemed to subside. When nothing more happened, I decided that I would go ahead and do the castor oil.  I mean really, we all know patience is NOT my thing.  I wanted this baby here too.

At 4:00 I took an entire bottle of castor oil.........and, NOTHING!  I mean literally, nothing happened.  After a couple of hours, I was concerned. Why no poopsy?  Then, FINALLY at 8:00 I had an urge to go potty.  I went, it was not that great, but it started something at least.  The contractions began.  I started counting them at around 9:00, as I watched the aforementioned Voice. They were coming pretty regularly at about 5 or 3 minutes apart.  I knew that I could wait it out at home, but Jere likes to head to the hospital.  I held him off until about 11:00.  We waddled our way to maternity at Banner Desert and checked into triage.  I measured at a 4, this was good, but the contractions weren't that exciting.  They told me I had to be at a 5 in order to stay.  UGH!  So, i did my patented jog around the building in a hospital gown act.  I hate that.  Me in my giant bellied, naked under a gown glory jogging in place in the chapel, walking up and down the stairs, walking, walking, squatting, lunging, whatever else I could think of to get to a 5 and be able to stay.

45 minutes later I toodled back to my nurse, she checked me out and good news, I got to stay. They checked me into a room and let us settle down, and I use that term lightly,  for the night.

The night was long, and mostly sleepless, but not that thrilling.  They told me that the doc would be in around 6 to break my water.  Lies.

Just before 6 a.m. I told them I needed to go to the bathroom.  As I moved to try and get up I heard and felt the wierdest popping sound.  And then there was a trickle running down my leg.  I called the nurse in and told her that maybe my water broke, cause I certainly wasn't peeing myself, but it was pretty wet.  She said, no, you didn't break it, but maybe just punctured it.  She got me up to go to the bathroom.  I went, and there was a good amount of bloody show and I continued to "leak" down my leg.

From there it went pretty quickly.  The contractions came pretty quickly and I was dilated to a six.  I said, let's get this epidural, I'm not interested in no pain, YO!  The doc came in to administer the epidural.  It felt like he was hitting my spinal nerve, it HURT and that had never happened before. But he finally got it in the right place and put the drugs in.  And away he went.

Literally just a few minutes later I was dying.  I was like "Why, WHY does this hurt so bad? I have an epidural, holy CRAP why is this HURTING?" Let's keep in mind that I have not felt childbirth. I'm all about the drugged up birth.  I called the nurse in and she smiled and said "are you feeling a little pinch, a little uncomfortable?"  I was like, "NO, I'm feeling eVERYTHING, WHY?"  And at this point I was dilated to an 8 or 9 or something and there was no doc in sight.  He was stuck in freaking traffic, but on.his.way.  So, I'm literally doing the lamaze breathing, squeezing the crap out of Jeres hand, feeling every blasted contraction,  trying NOT to have a baby until the doc got there. Apparently, the epidural did not so much work, and I'm a fast transitioner.  FINALLY at 8:30 or something like that the Doc rolled in, sat down and told me to push.  I gave it a good push and booyah, she was on her way out.

In just a moment (well, you know, hypothetically speaking) at 8:53 a.m. Amazing Mayzie made her debut, and she was the picture of perfection at 8 lb. 11 oz.  The doc insited that she was really 9 lbs., but when they wiped her off, it took away that oz. 

She was calm and serene from the start.  I remember laying in my room listening to the baby next door cry and cry and cry and cryyyyyyyyy non-stop, and Mayzie had never so much as made a peep.  She literally never cried.  She slept and laid there and looked around and just emminated an aura of peace.  I'm always so grateful for that.  She was a champion latcher and a great little nurser from the get go.  Really too bad that I had to wake up the next morning with a blood clot and ruin the whole nursing thing.

This has been a year of pure joy when it comes to Mayzie.  She smiles for everyone, she's fairly easy to go to anyone.  She is happy, and giggly and sweet and bright, oh so bright.

She started walking 2 1/2 weeks ago, and she's just a girl on the go these days.  She loves to wave at people and blow kisses.  She LOVES dogs and her clearest word is "DOG."  She also says mama, dada, BAH which means bottle, or drink. Other words are bye bye, ba (as in bath) which she very excitedly repeats over and over when its bathtime,  and we swear we've heard Max and a Maggie once.  

She is a fantastic sleeper, she happily goes down for 2 naps a day and down at bedtime.  Rarely is there any fight, and if there is, then she clearly isn't ready. She's very good at letting you know when she wants to sleep, and when she wants something.  She's determined and strong willed.  She does NOT like to be told no, and gets rather easily offended if we say that to her.  She will cry big, sad crocodile tears.

She's incredibly patient and accomodating to all her cousins and her siblings who really love to play with her like she's their real life baby doll.  It's quite adorable to watch her get passed around and fought over by all the cousins.  There is still line ups for turns to hold Mayzie.  I'm so thankful she is loved.

I am so grateful, every day for her sweet addition to our family. I'm thankful for her smile, her peace, her beauty, her fun personality, and the happiness she brings me. She is perfect, she is AMAZING!

 Newborn

 2 mos.

 4 mos. at her blessing

 3 mos. in Greer

 3 mos.

 6 mos. Halloween

 8 mos.

 8 mos. Christmas morning

 10 mos.

 Easter Sunday 11 mos.

 8 or 9 months

 I guess it's not always Sunshine and Lollipops!