Thursday, January 31, 2002
Happy birthday, Jenica.
Isn’t it strange how much happens in a single year? We live, we die, we laugh, we cry, sometimes we pick up a few lessons along the way. Always, it seems, we manage to obtain a few more battle scars. A year ago to within a quarter of an hour, I was being told I could go home and rest, that I wasn’t far enough along in my labor to stay there at the hospital. I dragged my swollen belly and bitter disappointment back home and cried, doing my best to endure hour after hour of intense contractions.
A little more than twelve hours later, I was holding my beautiful daughter, brimming with excitement, pride, and a giddy sense of accomplishment. Every time I looked at my husband, I loved him more. So much it hurt. He was so good to me, and so strong for me. His big, strong hands caught Jenica as she made her appearance into this world. His part was as important as mine, and made the experience seem somehow “ours” instead of just mine.
For those of you who love a good cry, or are just interested in birth experiences, you can read all about Jenica’s birth.
About a year ago, Aimee was still freaking out over being pregnant, Andrea was cleaning up poop, puke and pee and all of us were still pregnant. We all nurtured secret hopes and fears about our daughters, and there was a common bond shared that, at least in my case, helped me to feel stronger and more able to cope. I was not a happy camper. By the time Jenica was due to arrive, I had already worked myself up into quite a frenzy, panic stricken over fears of another C-section, money, legal issues… just… everything. I thought it’d be fun and interesting to bring back one of the pages from my old weblog to reminisce over the “not so good” good ole days. Feel free to check it out. (Not a very original design concept, eh? I’m always trying to stick wings on myself. Hmm.)
(This is the point where I’m supposed to include a flattering photo of Jenica, but I think I’ll wait until she wakes up and I’ll get an “on her birthday” photo and edit it in later.)
Happy birthday, Little Bit.
Posted under:
In Other Years:
Story of My Life (2005)
Still tired.
There’s nothing really exciting to report. It’s Jenica’s 4th birthday, which is something. It’s just hard…[Read More]
Happy Birthday, Baby (2003)
Whether having her hair braided, “reading” books with Bastian, singing the Blue’s…[Read More]
Comments
jenica nieves at 09/13/03 01:06 PM
hey! My name is jenica too!!! It’s so cool to find people with the same name. I was born in August. I know what “our” name means. It comes from hebrew meaning ....“God’s gracious gift” I had recieved a beautiful name certificate that said the meaning and came with a passage from the biblethat goes with our name James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the father of light.“ I just thought I’d let you know. To all the other jenica’s out there please try not to make our name popular because then it will lose it uniqueness!! LOVE TO ALL, jenica*- from chicago
Rebecca at 01/31/02 11:22 AM
Happy Birthday Jenica! The new design looks beautiful :0)