Anna

My first daughter, Anna, was born after 2 boys. We so looked forward to finally having a daughter. I'll never forget calling Paul after I had the ultrasound that showed it was a girl. I didn't want to tell him over the phone, but I couldn't help myself. I said to him, "You got your girl!" and there was silence on the other end of the phone and then a big whoop!!

I should have known what kind of child she was going to be by how difficult her pregnancy was. Everything that could happen, did. I had blood pressure problems, blood sugar problems, swelling, NST twice a week, etc. I was so tired of being pregnant, that I couldn't wait to deliver her. She was my third child, and I had the other two naturally. Zack was 10.6 lbs, so the doctor was afraid of Anna being bigger, so he induced me 2 weeks before I was due. Mistake. Big Mistake.

I was in the hospital on the pitocin drip for 2 days. Yes, you read that right. 2 days. Nothing happened. I did not even dilate enough where they could break my water. They sent me home. I was tired, sore and so discouraged. A few days later, my water broke. Just a little. To make a long story short, I ended up in labor, on pitocin and only dilated to an 8 and had a c-section. Not the kind of birth story I wanted.

But Anna was beautiful. Dark, unruly hair that wouldn't lay down, olive skin, deep brown eyes. Her father and I were smitten. She quickly became daddy's girl and settled into a routine. She was a great sleeper and took wonderful, long naps.

Sometime around her turning 18 months, something changed in this sweet little girl. She became a stinker. She decided she did not have to listen or do anything she didn't want to. We always had to know where she was and what she was doing for fear of what she would get into. One day I was schooling the boys in my room, and all the sudden my oldest and I looked at each other with panic and said, Where's Anna??

We quickly searched our small condo, and realized, she was not here. He took off outside, and came back with her a few minutes later. She was walking down the road to her friends house. Thank God we did not live on a busy street. Paul installed a chain link lock that night on the front door which we kept locked at all times.

She learned to put her ride on toy next to her crib at night before she went to bed. We thought she was becoming neat. She knew she could get out of the crib if it was right next to her bed. She was the kind of child who, if you saw in the grocery store, you would think never gets disciplined. I can assure you, she received much discipline. I so often thought I was wasting my time, because it never seemed to work. But we kept on, mostly because we didn't know what else to do.

One place I refused to take her was the post office. I don't know what happened to her here, but she would go crazy. One time she got away from me and Paul Jr., and ran and ran and ran. She was headed out the door before we could get her and thank God my brother came in at that moment and grabbed her.

Today, at almost 11, she is a sweet, helpful young lady. She is my right hand in the home. She can run this home by herself. I don't know how or why, other than obedience from her father and I in disciplining her because we didn't know what else to do. I sometimes think that these types of children who get alot of discipline, have gotten their "issues" out in the open and dealt with and are able to move on as opposed to the quiet child who does not receive alot of discipline and should.

I am so thankful for Anna. She has brightened our home in many ways and is the delight of her brother Samuel. She is going to make some fortunate young man a wonderful wife!