Three Years Ago ...

My Princess is three years old today. I was sent to the hospital at 6am for an induction at 35 weeks, due to severe preeclampsia. Princess was born at 3:29pm. She was 5lbs, 15oz and 18 inches long.

I held her for about thirty seconds, before the NICU team rushed her away, DH in tow. I was sure it was just a formality, since she was premature. In the NICU, Princess's lungs stuck together, because of a lack of natural surfactin to keep her lungs able to work. She was intubated with the ventilator, then she recieved surfactin (did you know they use pig surfactin, since it's so similar?!). She was also given an umbilical IV. She was also treated for low blood sugar, and infection, and jaundice.

She was in the NICU for a week ... where she dropped to 5lbs 0 oz, and the Dr decided that her mommy could take better care of her than the stupid nurses (his words, not mine ... though I wholeheartedly agreed - sadly, we had a couple BAD nurses!). She was sent home on 1/8th a L of oxygen. At home, she quickly regained her weight, being able to feed on demand, and being loved and snuggled. She had the oxygen for 2 months, and was given the synagis shots for RSV prevention.

Princess has always been our little princess princess ... from the day she was born, with her dainty fingers and tiny ears, to now, dressing up, playing house, and looking so comfortable in a crown and ball gown. She has had a very sensitive immune system, but has stregnthened so much in just the past year ... we can finally deal with a cold without panicking.

Princess is now a clever, sweet little preschooler with a sweet, shy smile, a higher spanish vocabulary than me, and a desperate love for candy - mainly chocolate. Her favorite color is pink, and according to her, "Pink" has the sweetest smell of any color (as she sniffs the crayons). Her favorite movies are Dora and Mermaidia. Her favorite animals are baby Zebras ... though she likes Pink Baby Zebras the best. She loves to read, play with her Dora playhouse, and have gigglefests with her brother and sister. She is adored by just about everyone, and is very tenderhearted, but can hold her own, and has a titch of sassiness in her. Happy Birthday Princess!




































































As you can see in the last two pictures (from this morning), we FOUND "Pink-Baby-Zebra" stuff --- Cute gap zebra top, and a super soft baby zebra from TRU. She's on cloud nine today!

Well, we're off to find a pinata for tomorrow's party ... Ay,yi,yi.



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Sat AM: Last night, my grandparents came and took us to dinner to celebrate all the birthdays ... we quietly told the waiter that it was DH and Princess's birthday. So many people just don't believe that they have the same birthday! Our waiter was so great though. After dinner, Princess and DH each recieved a huge piece of ice-cream cake. The piece was as big as Princess's head! Thank goodness my sweet grandpa had his camera with him!


(The cake as big as her head)



















(The "birthday kids")















(Princess ate ALL this on her own!)




















(All our little munchkins ... they all were very well behaved!)















We're almost ready for the party this afternoon ... I have the party bags ready, the pinata stuffed, the lollipop-flowers made ... I just need to make the cake and make a "map". I'll post pictures of the party later! 9 kids 5 and under ... this should be a ton of fun!