Happy Birthday Samantha!

My little girl is 9 years old today. 9 years ago I had stayed home from work because I had the flu. I had been working lots of hours, but Samantha wasn't due for another 2 1/2 weeks, so I had a few little things to wrap up. But, the flu got the better of me so I stayed home for the 2nd full day to rest. We had had our office "Holiday Party in January" over the weekend and I felt like a big green pea in my green velvet maternity dress. By the end of the party, I was so uncomfortable, but when you are basically 9 months pregnant, you are uncomfortable all of the time.

So, its Wednesday January 22nd and I spend the day at home trying to get over the flu. I had gotten permission to take Sudafed for 24 hours to clear my sinuses. My 24 hours was long since past around 10pm that night, but my sinuses were still completely clogged. So, I spent some time hanging UPSIDE DOWN with my head hanging over the side of the bed, trying to clear my sinuses. All of a sudden, I felt Samantha kick (we didn't know it was Samantha yet, we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl) and then a pop. What was that, I thought? Well, it turns out it was my water breaking - I think more precisely, Samantha kicking and breaking my water. Well, that certainly jumpstarted my labor. I think I scared Mike half to death when I went down into the basement of the townhouse where he was doing laundry to tell him that I think my water broke. But, off to the hospital we were, after a quick stop at the office (of course)for the radio that we believed we would want in the delivery room - I of course expecting a long labor.

Once we get to the hospital, they check me into a room and want to check the progress of my labor. Lo and Behold the nurse said that the baby was breech. I actually argued with her because the baby hadn't been breech at my Drs appointment the previous week. They brought in a sonogram to show that indeed Samantha was feet down - no wonder I lost so much water when my water broke!! And, the reason I was so uncomfortable at the office Holiday Party is that Samantha chose that time to turn over and be breech - my mother says she was born a "princess"!! So, all of a sudden we were preparing for a C-section. Well, they were preparing - I was in awe because I WASN'T prepared for a C-section. But, they got me ready and wheeled me into the operating room and a short time later, at 1:48am on Thursday, January 23rd, Samantha Collier Stopper was born. She was the 8th baby born on January 23rd (yes, only 1 hour and 48 minutes into the day) and the 800th or so baby born since the beginning of the year.

But, she was all ours and still is.

But now she's 9 years old - we are still trying to find those 9 years.

She had her birthday party at the Ashburn Ice House yesterday with friends from school and the neighborhood. We had a great time!!

Happy Birthday Samantha.