9 Years Ago Today....

One of my biggest dreams became a reality....

Our beautiful baby girl, Leilani Nicole, entered our lives.

Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a mom. I always loved children, so it wasn't unusual when I took on the task of babysitting at the early age of 13. Babysitting was like playing mommy. So I had tons of practice with the children I babysat and with my younger siblings. Of course, once Mike and I got married, I wanted to have one of my very own.

Leilani's pregnancy was for the most part uneventful. The first couple of months my OB was concerned about a cyst that showed up in my early sonograms. But within a few weeks they realized it would pose no harm to her since it was attached to the fallopian tube and not in the uterus. During the last week of my pregnancy I had tons of Braxton Hicks. I even went to the hospital twice with false alarms before the big day, March 19, 1999.

By then, I couldn't take the contractions anymore. I hadn't slept for the past 2 nights. After having me hooked up to the monitor, the doc saw that I was having very strong contractions, but I wasn't dilating. So they decided to start me on pitocin. The pitocin at the smallest dosage did the trick. Before you knew it I was dilating. He called the anesthisiologist who came with my favorite goody in the world, Epidoral! Doc thought I would be ready to give birth at about 8pm. But by 2:30pm, I was having the urges to push. Doc checked me out and was astonished to see I was fully dilated. The room was a whir of activity and within 10 minutes they had me start pushing. At 3:06pm, Leilani took her first breath.

She was exactly as I'd pictured her. A mass of dark brown hair, big brown eyes, and a loud clear cry. Grandma Auri noticed immediately that she was blessed with her mommy's dimples. It was by far, the happiest day of my life.

Today, Leilani continues to make me the happiest mommy. She is a sweet, kind, smart, bubbly little girl. Each year on this day, I think back to the first moment I saw her. I thank God for her everyday!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Leilani!