The Princess Turns Seventeen

It is hard to believe but, tomorrow my beautiful baby, The Princess will be seventeen! It seems like yesterday that she came into this world and changed our lives in a way that we could never have imagined.

We had two little boys when we found out that we were getting a very unexpected bonus baby. We had thought we were through having children but, God had a surprise for us.

We chose not to find out what we were having and it was a wonderful surprise to find out that we now had a little girl to go along with our precious boys. Our joy soon turned to fear when we realized that all was not well with our baby girl. She was struggling to breathe and was immediately put on oxygen and antibiotics. As the next two days wore on our little one just kept getting sicker and sicker.

Our baby, it turns out had pneumonia. The fluids quickly filled her lungs and the doctors made the decision to send her to the hospital in Montgomery. The ride to Montgomery was the longest of my life. We did not know if she would still be alive when we got there. Thank the good Lord she was.

We put our trust in God and he took care of our sweet baby. Each day I watched her tiny little chest as she struggled to breathe. The only part of her that I could touch was her little hands. When I went into the PICU to see her, I would sit there and rub the palms of her hands. This ritual became a part of our nightly routine. We would rub the palms of her hands until she went to sleep.

Every day that I headed into the PICU I was afraid of what I would find. I remember telling her Daddy that I knew that God was not going to give us this special gift just to turn around and take her away.  Finally the day came that our little one was able to breathe on her on. We were finally able to bring her home ten days after she was born.

I remember during those horrible days of uncertainty thinking to myself that soon if would be sixteen or seventeen years from now and all of this would just be a distant memory. Now, here I am seventeen years later and it IS a distant memory.
 
Our Princess has grown from being that tiny sick little baby to a beautiful young lady! She is our miracle baby! So, on her seventeenth birthday I want her to know how proud I am of her. You have overcome so many obstacles in your life and you have done it with grace, class and dignity. I am so proud of you my precious girl and I can not wait to see what the future holds for you! I love You Haddie Bug! Happy Birthday!