Dear Ivy, today you are six years old and you are the sweetest, smartest, silliest, most perfect, most beautiful girl ever!
I want to tell you the story of your birth the way it happened for me. Grandpa and I were so happy when your mom and dad told us you would be coming to our family. It was summertime, your mom said you would come in the winter, in January soon after Christmas. That seemed like a long time to wait, but we were so excited! Grandpa and I wanted to be grandparents very much! It was fun watching your mommy’s tummy grow big and round.
I talked to you often and told you to keep growing because soon you would come out and be a very special, very important part of our family, our very first grandbaby! And you would be the first niece for Uncle Braden and Auntie Stefie. We had such a fun Christmas just before you were born because we were thinking about you, and we knew you would be with us very soon. Then January came! What an exciting month it was! Every day we wondered if today was the day we would get to meet our sweet little Ivy girl. The first week of January went by, no baby. Then the second—no baby. Then came the third week—still no baby!! Your due date was January 22nd—that day came and went. I hugged your momma’s round tummy and said, “Come out, baby!! I want to meet you and play with you!” But you were not ready. Two days later your mom and dad came to my house for a visit. Grandpa was coaching a basketball game so it was just the three of us. Your mom thought maybe it was almost time for you to be born. When they went home that night I kept the phone very close to my bed just in case I got a phone call saying it was time for you to arrive! But morning came and no phone call. It was a Friday, four days after your due date. I went to school to teach my little first graders. I reminded them that my grand baby was going to be born soon, and I would have to go away for a few days. They were happy for me, they knew I was so excited to become a grandma. Then a little later that morning…my cell phone rang. It was your Dad! He said, “Come to the hospital soon! Our baby will be born today!”
I left my students and drove as fast as I could to the hospital. I felt so happy and excited, but also a little bit worried because the doctors discovered that you were turned the wrong way inside your mom. That is an unsafe way to be born! Babies are supposed to come head first, but you were feet first! Why were you turned around? Nobody knew. I said lots of prayers for you and your mom. The doctors tried to turn you around by pushing and pulling on your mom’s tummy, but you were stubborn and would not turn around. So the doctor had to use an operation called a C-section to get you safely here. They took your mom and dad to another room for the surgery, but I could not come. I waited all alone, so worried and excited. Your grandpa arrived at the hospital, and then your Auntie Stefie. We were all so excited to meet you. Finally a nurse came to tell us that you were here, and you were perfect and beautiful in every way. A few minutes later the nurses pushed you and your mom’s bed into the room and there you were, I finally got to meet you! Oh my goodness, you were so tiny and precious! You were wrapped in a soft blanket. You made a soft sound like a little kitten. You had lots of dark hair and a perfect round little face. I could not take my eyes off of you.
I got to watch your first exam, your first diaper change and your first bath. The nurse pasted a tiny pink bow to your head so everyone would know you were a little girl. You were very sleepy and snoozed most of the day. I took lots and lots of pictures of you. I visited the hospital as often as I could for three days.
Then it was time for you to come home. We dressed you up and got you ready to leave the hospital. You were so tiny in your little car seat.
We were so happy to welcome you home! Your mom and I had so much fun dressing you in cute little clothes, soft blankets and pretty bows on your head. I was so happy to be your grandma and I knew that I would love you forever and ever. I am so thankful and blessed and lucky that you came to our family to be my first little grandbaby.
Love, Grandma J
