Happy Birthday MM!!!

Today is my sweet baby, MM's birthday. The whole time I carried her was easy. No pains, rarely uncomfortable, my only complaint was I didn't sleep. I thought for sure I was having another non-sleeping baby. Boy was I wrong.

Two years ago yesterday, I was 35wks pregnant. My head was pounding with headache that I had for 2days. Drinking water, resting and soaking in a tub didn't relieve it. The nurses at work checked my blood pressure, 150/90. Too high. That night we packed our two yr-okd, Li, in the truck and headed to the hospital with out knowing what to expect. After an hour of resting and a mercury drip, a doctor told us I had preeclampsia. My BP wasn't coming down. The baby had to be born that night. Understandably the Big Man and I were scared. But being the big, tough man he is, he didn't let me know how worries he was. After 8hrs of labor, MM was born 6lbs, 1oz. Small but not too tiny. She was as perfect as her sister. Gorgeous cupid's bow lips.

The first month was tough. The 1st week in the hospital with jaundice. Weeks without gaining enough weight. Then the supplemental feeder. This is my 2nd baby breastfeeding should have been a cake walk. I've never worried over anything that much. My oldest is tough like me. But MM, I thought of as too small until she was a year old when the Dr said "she sure doesn't loo or act like a preemie" I felt like someone lifted a weight off my shoulders.

Now, she's an average size, wild maniac. MM looked so much like her sister when she was a baby. I would look to see how she was different from Li. I knew they would be compared. Li we knew was smart because she spoke so well. But MM has her daddy's patience and figured out how to work things way before Li. MM observes things, watches people and learns.

From the time MM was 4 wks old, she has slept thru the night. (So different from Li.) She still goes to bed at 6:30 PM and will sleep until 9AM if you let her. If you feed her lunch too much after noon, she falls alseep in her food. I have met few people who love dogs as much as she does. MM gives the best chubby arms hugs, esp to babies. She loves to hang out with me while I cook, and to sing and dance. My daddy is her favorite person in the whole world. It melts his heart.

Don't get me wrong. This is a bad baby. She'll tell you that too. She aggravates and pinches her Sissy to get her to play with her. Up until 2wks ago, she refused to call herself anything besides "Baby". Now she has decided to go by her middle name. She does not do mornings. Cranky and fussy is all you get before 9AM. But I love her with everything that I am.

A few of my favorite pictures of MM