Happy Birthday Miss 9!

Well, it had to happen soon enough... Miss 8 turned 9 !! So that means she is now fondly known as Miss 9. 

I think last year it was great being 8 (or so she reckoned) and this year it will be fine being 9! Who makes up these silly sayings? Who is it going to be fine for? Certainly not for me.

I still remember the day I was in labour like it was only yesterday.  I woke at around 4am with contractions which were strong enough to wake me from a deep sleep.  I remember thinking "I can't be having the baby today".   I would be 2 weeks overdue on the following day, and had an antenatal appointment that next morning - where it was discussed I would be induced if labour did not spontaneously occur.  

Being that I wanted everything just so, I had arranged an appointment for getting my hair dyed and cut.  I arrived at the hairdressers, with contractions around 5.5 minutes apart, and I remember my ever-so-gay hairdressers saying to me "your waters better not break on our bloody new white sofa" LOL.  Classic! 

I'd been primped and preened to within an inch of my life - my eyebrows and bikini line was waxed later in the day, all while I was wincing during contractions.  

I made it to hospital about 7:30pm that night.  I knew it was time to go when it hurt me to laugh - I was trying to make light of it, and we were at my mum and dads for dinner but I couldn't eat, and with every laugh, also came a punishing contraction!!  When I left in the car, my contractions were 2.5 - 3 minutes apart. I felt every damned bump in the road, even though for the most part, we were driving on the motorway.

Of course, when I arrived at the hospital and was admitted to the birth suite, my contractions all but stopped.  She has always been a stubborn child - not one to work by others rules.
She wasn't born until 8:35am the next morning! A whopping 28 hour labour.....  

I remember how teensy tiny she was. 6lbs 10oz.  She was all grey and alien looking - she had been stuck in the birth canal and finally after several hours of pushing, was extracted with the help of a ventouse.  Her head was cone shaped.  I was so damned tired that I fell asleep shortly after she was born, and I don't remember much past that. 

Anyway, Happy Birthday Miss 9!  I know you had a fantastic day today, and I look forward to seeing you blossom this year, as you do every year.