Now that I have introduced my husband and shared some of his dirty laundry, you may be able to understand our daughter a little bit. As with most blessings in our lives she was not our plan but God's plan for us. I tell everyone that I prayed for patience and God gave me Michaela. Truly, be careful what you ask for. Michaela was born a perfectly healthy, normal baby but we had quite a ride with her. She started causing us hearache from about 12 weeks into the pregnancy. We went for a routine prenatal check and were offered the "Triple Screen", a blood test that helps detect abnormalities such as indicators for Downs Syndrome. I HATE needles and this screen is not required, nor did we have any risk factors that would indicate a need for the test. But Ed thought that having the screening done would put our minds at ease when it came back normal and he really wanted me to do it so I agreed. (I did learn a lesson from this experience!) Unfortunately, it did not come back normal. It showed an increased risk for Downs Syndrome and we were terrified. The doctors had to do a level 2 sonogram where they could better see the baby. This was done and they couldn't see anything that would indicate a problem but they recommended an amniocentesis in order to completely rule out problems. This is a procedure where a three foot long needle that is as big around as your little finger is jabbed directly through your belly button and they dig around in your uterus until they get enough amniotic fluid that they can test and get the baby's DNA. (I have exaggerated very little here. That needle was freaking huge!) Remember that I hate needles? I laid on the table a cried while they did the test but Ed held my hand the whole time and it turned out to be worth it when we got the results a couple of weeks later that our baby girl was fine! I guess you can imagine the relief we felt. As with Ed, I should have realized at this point that life would never be easy with this child.
Then we had to choose a name. We now knew we were having a girl and I started thinking of all the beautiful names for little girls. Every time I would suggest a name, Ed would ask, "Why that name?" I would tell him that I liked the way it sounded or that it was pretty but unusual, or that I liked the meaning of the name. He would answer, "No, I don't like that one." After several conversations like this I was exasperated and I finally asked him, "What in the world do you want me to say? How do you want to choose her name?" He said he wanted to use a family name that had meaning to us. Are you kidding?! All these beautiful names I had dreamed of naming my little girl and you limit me to family names! But I'm a smart girl (sometimes). My brother's name is Michael. I like my brother. And I like the name Michaela...you can guess the rest. Since we took her first name from my family, her middle name is after Ed's mom, Marie. As if Ed's craziness isn't enough, my family is a little unstable itself. My mom had a fit when we announced that the baby would be named Michaela Marie. Not that my mom has anything against either name or either person she is named after. In fact, my mom really likes Ed's mom. And of course she's crazy about my brother (but that's another story!) but her middle name is Jo and my middle name is Jo and she intended for me to give my daughter the middle name Jo also. But I didn't. She told Ed that we named the baby wrong. In those words. Unbelieveable. To this day she still calls Michaela "Mickey Jo". Ed cringes every time he hears it. I think it would have been fine as a nickname if she hadn't told him we had named the child WRONG. In our private conversations we refer to this as "The Name Incident". Nothing is easy in this family.
We finally settled on the name and family members accepted it (some easier than others) and the rest of the pregancy was somewhat uneventful. I had false labor during the Oscar's and we thought she was going to be born on February 29th. Maybe her threatened Oscar appearance was an indication that she would reign in our home as the Drama Queen. But she waited. And waited. And waited. It seemed like forever, but she was only 5 days past due when she was born in March. Ed was working evenings so he called in to work and took me to the hospital instead about 3pm. I had just been to the doctor that morning and had progressed about 1cm since then so they admitted me around 5pm but figured it would still be awhile. I was scared of the pain so I let them draw blood to prepare for an epidural but I didn't want one--remember, I'm scared of needles, there was no way I wanted one in my BACK if it could be avoided! It was a good thing because when they came back at 6:30pm to say the blood work was done and I could have the epidural, it was already time to push. Ed was talking to me and holding my hand, at which point I yelled at him, "shut up! I hold your hand, you don't hold my hand!" He was quick to comply. They had to call the doctor back from supper and the nurse told me not to push yet. She said, "I can deliver this baby but I don't want to!" Thankfully the doctor arrived quickly and Michaela was born at 7:27pm.
We finally had our beautiful baby girl! She did all the silly baby things that all babies do. She spit up. A LOT. She went through tons of diapers. Ed's mom also gave her a nickname that lasted a while, "Volcano pants" and yes, it was because of the way the poop erupted from the top of her pants. More than once. But something was different about Michaela. From the very beginning she was very aware of her surroundings. She "watched" everything. I know they say babies can't see more than three feet away but if Michaela was limited, you couldn't tell. She would actually stare people down in stores until they would come and talk to her. When we held her on our shoulder, she would push away from us and look around. This was at DAYS old. I have never heard of a baby this aware or this strong. It was amazing. And she did not like to be held. She would wiggle and cry until we put her down. She liked attention and being talked to but this kid was independent from the start. Ed would sit with her in the crook of his arm while he played video games and she would watch. Daddy's little girl! I would dance around the house with her to the song "Yeah!" by Usher. It is still one of her favorite songs. She was an amazing baby!
Her first post-natal incident came at about two months old. Michaela was notorious already for throwing herself around while you were holding her. It was bound to happen and one day pur good friend was bringing her inside and as she reached for the door Michaela chose that exact second to throw herself backwards. Despite our friend's best efforts to stop it, Michaela fell and hit her head on concrete. They thankfully acted quickly and put her in her carrier and put ice on the bump. There was no blood, no crying, no fuss but they and Ed decided to take her to the emergency room anyway. I was at work and Ed had the brilliant idea that since I couldn't do anything anyway they shouldn't tell me until I got home. I could have killed him when I finally found out but luckily for him I was too worried about Michaela to bother. It turned out she had fractured her skull. Neither of the soft spots had hardened yet and they were able to expand to adjust for any swelling and she had no problems. She spent the weekend in the hospital and I think it had to be one of the longest weekends of my life, but it didn't phase her in the least. Michaela is both figuratively and literally hard-headed, it is just a medical fact. Bones heal stronger than before they were broken. Again, probably should have realized what I was in for at this point but it was just an accident, right? If only... Hellllloooo, Michaela.
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