21 years ago today
It seems like yesterday yet it seems like 100 years ago.
21 years ago tonight I was in the hospital awaiting an induction of my baby that was 2 weeks overdue. I received the gift of my first (and hopefully last) enema. Too much fun that was. The next day I was hooked up to a machine and I waited. My friends came to visit. The doctors came to visit. The nurses checked endless streams of paper in hopes of signs of labour. At 6pm, with no contractions and no labour in sight (1 whole cm dilated, woohoo) the doctor broke my water and went home. At 6:42 pm Nyk was born, seconds after the doctor rushed back in and before her dad arrived. So after an extremely long pregnancy and an extremely short labour, Nicole Angie entered the world, teeny, screaming, purple and perfect.
She's still teeny but doesn't scream much. She was purple again once, when she stopped breathing during a febrile seizure at 9 months, but she's usually a nice healthy colour now. And she's definitely still perfect.
Nyk. What a girl. Growing up in the shadow of Michelle, the athletic, outgoing older sister, couldn't have been easy. It was so easy to blend in and sometimes almost disappear. I failed Nyk so many times by not putting her in the spotlight because she seemed to not want to be celebrated. I think I would do things differently if I had a do-over, but then again, I wouldn't change the woman she is today.
Nyk was such a good child -- never talked back, never had a temper tantrum, never wanted us to fuss over her. Nyk was reading by 4; reading to other kids in her kindergarten class when the teacher had other things to deal with. When she was very young, under 2, she liked to repeat long words. I would say things like Afghanistan, Mahatma Ghandi, Taj Mahal, Mississippi, and she would repeat them and we would laugh. It was so cute -- this teeny tiny little girl saying such big, big words, her enunciation almost perfect.
We went through hell and back when Nyk was in her middle teens, some of it her doing, some of it my fault, some of it out of our control. But she made it through. Did she ever.
Tomorrow Nyk will be 21. She is doing exceptionally well at her job, climbing the management ladder, handling groups of people and awkward situations every day. I couldn't do her job, so I really admire her strength and diplomacy. Nyk has a daughter, our beautiful Chaeli. She has a wonderful guy. She just bought a house. She bought a car last month. Sure, we help her out when needed, but she gets the things done that have to be done to accomplish her goals. It'll be fun to see what she has planned next. Whatever it is, she'll do it, and then she'll be on to the next goal.
Happy Birthday, Ms. Nyckee. We are so, so proud of you!
21 years ago tonight I was in the hospital awaiting an induction of my baby that was 2 weeks overdue. I received the gift of my first (and hopefully last) enema. Too much fun that was. The next day I was hooked up to a machine and I waited. My friends came to visit. The doctors came to visit. The nurses checked endless streams of paper in hopes of signs of labour. At 6pm, with no contractions and no labour in sight (1 whole cm dilated, woohoo) the doctor broke my water and went home. At 6:42 pm Nyk was born, seconds after the doctor rushed back in and before her dad arrived. So after an extremely long pregnancy and an extremely short labour, Nicole Angie entered the world, teeny, screaming, purple and perfect.
She's still teeny but doesn't scream much. She was purple again once, when she stopped breathing during a febrile seizure at 9 months, but she's usually a nice healthy colour now. And she's definitely still perfect.
Nyk. What a girl. Growing up in the shadow of Michelle, the athletic, outgoing older sister, couldn't have been easy. It was so easy to blend in and sometimes almost disappear. I failed Nyk so many times by not putting her in the spotlight because she seemed to not want to be celebrated. I think I would do things differently if I had a do-over, but then again, I wouldn't change the woman she is today.
Nyk was such a good child -- never talked back, never had a temper tantrum, never wanted us to fuss over her. Nyk was reading by 4; reading to other kids in her kindergarten class when the teacher had other things to deal with. When she was very young, under 2, she liked to repeat long words. I would say things like Afghanistan, Mahatma Ghandi, Taj Mahal, Mississippi, and she would repeat them and we would laugh. It was so cute -- this teeny tiny little girl saying such big, big words, her enunciation almost perfect.
We went through hell and back when Nyk was in her middle teens, some of it her doing, some of it my fault, some of it out of our control. But she made it through. Did she ever.
Tomorrow Nyk will be 21. She is doing exceptionally well at her job, climbing the management ladder, handling groups of people and awkward situations every day. I couldn't do her job, so I really admire her strength and diplomacy. Nyk has a daughter, our beautiful Chaeli. She has a wonderful guy. She just bought a house. She bought a car last month. Sure, we help her out when needed, but she gets the things done that have to be done to accomplish her goals. It'll be fun to see what she has planned next. Whatever it is, she'll do it, and then she'll be on to the next goal.
Happy Birthday, Ms. Nyckee. We are so, so proud of you!
posted by ruthieB | 9:00 PM
3 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Aww RB, what a wonderful "tribute" to Nyk. Pass along my wishes for a Happy Birthday to her! :)
I will indeed, chellezilla! Thank you! :)
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