Corina

Somehow with all the craziness this summer I completely missed Corina's birthday.

She often ends up with a lame birthday because of when it falls - right in the middle of summer.

A few times Dave and I have been gone, or she has been at girl's camp.

Because it's close to the time school will be starting she usually just wants money for clothes.

Unfortunately her birthday was no different this year.

We did celebrate with her, and she enjoyed her birthday - but we didn't take a single picture.


BIRTH STORY:
I got pregnant with Corina 6 months after Akayla was born.

She was not a surprise - we hoped to have another baby quickly.

I know that sounds crazy, but that's how it was.

I think the girls had a plan before they came here and they didn't want to be apart from each other for any longer than absolutely necessary!

I craved hot dogs and root beer the entire pregnancy.

I threw up more with Corina's pregnancy than most of my pregnancies.

Dave was in school full-time, a counselor in the bishopric, and working full time.

I had the worst post-partum depression and didn't know it.

Dave lost his job about a month before Corina was born (he was working with a framing company, and the foreman was extremely condescending and rude.  He got upset with Dave one day and was calling him swear words so Dave stuck up for himself and got fired), so Dave started working with a company called Equinox.  It was an EXTREMELY stressful time, and it felt like a very dark time for me.

At 38 weeks our insurance was going to change and we didn't know if they would cover our baby so my doctor had me come in for an amniocentesis.

The amnio showed that Corina's lungs were fully developed so he called us in to be induced that night.

Corina's labor was about 8 hours from start to finish.
She was born at 4:something in the morning.

She had a ton of dark hair, and she was so beautiful!

She was 8 pounds 7 ounces (she would have been huge if they had let her bake another 2 weeks!), and 21 inches.

She had low blood sugar (I probably had gestational diabetes but wasn't tested for it) and they wouldn't let her leave the hospital until it was raised.

I was so anxious to get home to Akayla (my mom had come to stay with her), so it was very frustrating that we had to stay in the hospital.

I had so many problems breastfeeding Akayla that I was determined they would NOT give Corina any bottles.

Because of the low blood sugar they demanded that she have a bottle.

It felt like such a horrible thing at the time, but it turned out just fine.

They gave her a bottle which raised her blood sugar, and then we were able to go home.

I look back now and think I was so young and so naive - I have really grown up over the past 18 years of having children.

I loved having my 2 babies, and after having Corina I somehow stepped out of the deep pit of depression I was in.

Corina was a sweet and happy baby, and Akayla was crazy about her.

It feels like such a long time ago - almost like it's just a dream - those days living in Provo in our little trailer.

We were so very poor, and we were so young!

It's just hard to imagine Corina as a little baby.

She's such an amazing young woman now.

I love how ambitious she is, I love the way she speaks as if she's in a Jane Austen novel, I love her funny quirky personality, I love that she's so organized, I love that she plans ahead, I love that when she has time she loves to play with her younger siblings, I love that she is a devoted friend, I love that she loves to have a good time, I love that she has a strong need to do the right thing, I love that she seeks out answers, I love that she loves to play the cello and piano, I love that she has become so much more confident, I love that she LOVES to read, I love that she recently was given the AP Scholar Award, I love that she is happy, and I love that she has a solid testimony and loves the scriptures.

I hope she knows how special she is - even though her birthday was lame this year!!


good things:
long weekends
decorating for fall
ripe orange pumpkins