Happy Birthday Aurora!

Wow, I cannot believe our baby girl is 5 now! They really grow up so quickly!
5 years ago I got a phone call in the late morning that the amniocentesis came back saying her lungs were mature, so they were scheduling the c-section THAT night (repeat c-section – but I’ll skip all those details)! Just a few days prior I had passed out in the office before they could even do the amniocentesis due to some weird issue where my blood pressure drops rapidly and tachycardia begins. Because I’ve had open heart surgery, the tachycardia was a big concern. (They never did find out the reason, but it happened often during my last pregnancy as well.) So, I called Joey because he worked 45 minutes away and told him he must come home now because we need to get ready! I was 36 weeks 4 days, so we weren’t quite ready for miss Aurora to arrive yet! My c-section kept getting pushed back due to emergency c-sections, but at 8:40pm we finally got to meet our baby girl! She was a small 5lbs 12oz but was already a fireball! The first thing she did was take the clamp out of the doctor’s hand! haha
She did have to spend a few days in the Special Care Nursery. They made her a cute stocking assuming she would have to stay through Christmas. I was devastated. Just one year prior we lost a baby on Christmas day. I was beginning to feel negative about this time of year. God turned this into a special blessing, and Aurora came home on Christmas Eve. It’s so cliche when you say your children are the best gift you’ve ever received, but truly, after experiencing a loss at Christmas we couldn’t have asked for a better gift than having our healthy baby girl home with us on Christmas!

It’s been quite a journey with some challenges along the way. Despite the challenges, though, parenting her has been a joy! She’s currently doing homeschool at the 1st Grade level. She loves animals, is funny, a little shy, a great artist, loves to sing, and is super sweet and loving. It’s been amazing to watch her change and grow, and I know it will continue to amaze me as she gets older!