Last but not least in our family, is our Annabel. Her full name is Annabel Grace (Grace for my Grandma, who died a few years ago), and was born on May 13, 2009. We usually call her Annie.
There’s not much to tell with her birth story; it was so quick that there wasn’t much time for anything to happen! I started latent labour the day before, and since I had a history of prolonged latent labour, and I was already at 5cm, the dr sent me home from the hospital with sleeping pills and pain pills and said to come back in the afternoon if the contractions hadn’t stopped. So, we went home, slept (Tobi was already at a friend’s house), went walking around town for the morning, then went to hospital. They broke my water around 2:30 after monitoring me for a while.
After only 2 hours of labour, she was here! Not even time for an epidural. I’d told the nurses the labour would go fast, but they said we had to wait until my contractions were in a steady pattern (which happened after about 5 minutes), then by the time the nurses decided it was steady enough, the doctor checked me and said “nope, no time.”
It was soooo different with Annabel. Louis and I kept asking them if they had to take her away. With Tobi they rushed him out of the room immediately and we didn’t have him with us for a while, so it seemed totally bizarre that we could keep her! We ended up leaving the next evening, just over 24 hours later; everything just went perfectly!
She’s now just turned 1, and is starting to walk. She has 4 words “mama, dada (which she says more, of course), hi, and bye-bye.” She has amazing blue eyes and a great smile. She’s been more difficult with sleeping than Tobi was, although she’s pretty good now. She has a very sunny disposition during the day, and she loves the water!
Dear Lord, thank you for my daughter. Please guide Louis and I as we try to teach her Your ways. Help us to teach her to love herself always as You love her. We live in a world where a girl’s worth is measured by her looks and weight; please help us to teach her to focus on your standards, not those of her peers. Amen.
