August 7, 2011
The birth of Harley was one of the happiest days of my life, and for a lot of reasons. She was planned and wanted so badly. My pregnancy with Harley followed a terrible heartache of losing a baby due to an ectopic pregnancy. Getting pregnant with Harley so soon afterwards, and finding out just 3 days before Christmas was an amazing gift. Rob and I were newly married, so excited to have a baby to seal our family together, and to share in our love for each other. With 3 boys between the two of us already, we desperately wanted a baby girl. Rob was sure she was a girl from the moment I got pregnant. I wanted her to be a girl so badly, but was scared to get my hopes up.
She'd been named long before I was ever pregnant. When watching "Pure Country" (that movie with George Strait about him leaving the music business to lead a simple life and falling for a girl named "Harley") before we were ever even married Rob said, "When we get married and have a baby girl, we're naming her Harley." I said, "OK..." not even knowing if that would ever happen, if we would get married OR have a baby girl! But, when she was born, and actually as soon as the ultrasound tech told us it was a girl, her name was "Harley" and that was that!
While I was rewarded for 9 months of being sick with Riley by an easy labor and delivery, Harley was different. Instead of being rewarded for once again being sick for 9 months of pregnancy, I was further tortured. After being due on August 3rd with both babies (so ironic to me!), Harley had no intention of coming out anytime soon, so it was decided that I would be induced the morning of August 7th. That was pure torture! After going in at 6:00 A.M., being speared with IV's, and strapped to the bed with a fetal monitor, I was in agony for 11 1/2 hours before Harley entered the world. She couldn't do it easily either. High-maintenance from the beginning, that girl was! Her heart rate dropped with every contraction, and each contraction I had "piggy-backed" which meant I had 2 contractions between each "break". They inserted an internal monitor which they screwed into the top of her head, and I had to lay on my side or up on all fours for about the last 3 hours of the labor in order to keep her heart rate where it should be. When she was born, her cord was around her neck, which explains the heart rate issues. Luckily, she was perfect in every way, despite the grueling labor, and the second I asked, "What is it?" and the doctor said, "I told you it was a girl!" I cannot even begin to describe the joy that surged through me.
The first phone call I made was to Riley, the proud big brother waiting anxiously at Grandma Shirley's house. He was the first person outside the delivery room to know that Harley had been born, 2 days after his 6th birthday, and a great birthday present!
Harley was the perfect baby from day one. She slept through the night her very first night at home. When I woke up the next morning I was hysterical, thinking she'd died of SIDS her first night out of the hospital! She was fine though, just obviously as exhausted as I was and so glad to be home! She only cried when she was wet or hungry. She was happy, pudgy, and perfect. Until she hit the toddler years...
Harley was the kind of toddler who ran across the parking lot the second you released her hand. She ran away in the store and was never where she should be. She was into everything, climbed out of her crib on her own at 15 months, walked her My Little Pony horses through the landlord's fresh concrete, refused to be potty-trained until SHE wanted to, despite knowing how to do it, made messes she didn't want to clean up, and would take her clothes off as fast as I put them on, almost making late for work many mornings. But boy was she SMART!
I often tell Harley I realize she has the highest IQ in the house, and I'm not kidding when I say that! The girl was drawing stick figures of the family at 2, writing her name at 3, and reading books aloud, not by memory, but by actually reading the words at 3 1/2! She absolutely amazed me every day with her knowledge and intelligence. She still does today.
The last 10 years have gone by so fast! After looking back at Riley's childhood and vowing to appreciate Harley's more, to savor it more, I realize that it's not that I didn't appreciate or savor the time with either of them. Time just goes REALLY fast when you're raising babies and watching them grow. So here we are, 10 years later, and I can remember every single second of the day of Harley's birth like it was only a few months ago. I don't know where the time goes!
She will be a 5th grader this year, and it's so hard to see her growing up and not still a "baby". I love that she still sleeps with stuffed animals, plays with her Little People and her dolls and colors and watches cartoons because I know these days are going to soon come to an end. I want to enjoy every bit of the "little girl" stage while I can.
Having a daughter is an amazing gift, and one I'm so grateful to have. Harley continues to amaze me every single day, and I could not love her more. She challenges me every day. She's willful, moody, and a complete and total drama queen. But she's also smart, beautiful, sweet, and sensitive. I cannot imagine my life without my baby girl. Happy 10th birthday, Harley Brooke! I love you!
She'd been named long before I was ever pregnant. When watching "Pure Country" (that movie with George Strait about him leaving the music business to lead a simple life and falling for a girl named "Harley") before we were ever even married Rob said, "When we get married and have a baby girl, we're naming her Harley." I said, "OK..." not even knowing if that would ever happen, if we would get married OR have a baby girl! But, when she was born, and actually as soon as the ultrasound tech told us it was a girl, her name was "Harley" and that was that!
While I was rewarded for 9 months of being sick with Riley by an easy labor and delivery, Harley was different. Instead of being rewarded for once again being sick for 9 months of pregnancy, I was further tortured. After being due on August 3rd with both babies (so ironic to me!), Harley had no intention of coming out anytime soon, so it was decided that I would be induced the morning of August 7th. That was pure torture! After going in at 6:00 A.M., being speared with IV's, and strapped to the bed with a fetal monitor, I was in agony for 11 1/2 hours before Harley entered the world. She couldn't do it easily either. High-maintenance from the beginning, that girl was! Her heart rate dropped with every contraction, and each contraction I had "piggy-backed" which meant I had 2 contractions between each "break". They inserted an internal monitor which they screwed into the top of her head, and I had to lay on my side or up on all fours for about the last 3 hours of the labor in order to keep her heart rate where it should be. When she was born, her cord was around her neck, which explains the heart rate issues. Luckily, she was perfect in every way, despite the grueling labor, and the second I asked, "What is it?" and the doctor said, "I told you it was a girl!" I cannot even begin to describe the joy that surged through me.
The first phone call I made was to Riley, the proud big brother waiting anxiously at Grandma Shirley's house. He was the first person outside the delivery room to know that Harley had been born, 2 days after his 6th birthday, and a great birthday present!
Harley was the perfect baby from day one. She slept through the night her very first night at home. When I woke up the next morning I was hysterical, thinking she'd died of SIDS her first night out of the hospital! She was fine though, just obviously as exhausted as I was and so glad to be home! She only cried when she was wet or hungry. She was happy, pudgy, and perfect. Until she hit the toddler years...
Harley was the kind of toddler who ran across the parking lot the second you released her hand. She ran away in the store and was never where she should be. She was into everything, climbed out of her crib on her own at 15 months, walked her My Little Pony horses through the landlord's fresh concrete, refused to be potty-trained until SHE wanted to, despite knowing how to do it, made messes she didn't want to clean up, and would take her clothes off as fast as I put them on, almost making late for work many mornings. But boy was she SMART!
I often tell Harley I realize she has the highest IQ in the house, and I'm not kidding when I say that! The girl was drawing stick figures of the family at 2, writing her name at 3, and reading books aloud, not by memory, but by actually reading the words at 3 1/2! She absolutely amazed me every day with her knowledge and intelligence. She still does today.
The last 10 years have gone by so fast! After looking back at Riley's childhood and vowing to appreciate Harley's more, to savor it more, I realize that it's not that I didn't appreciate or savor the time with either of them. Time just goes REALLY fast when you're raising babies and watching them grow. So here we are, 10 years later, and I can remember every single second of the day of Harley's birth like it was only a few months ago. I don't know where the time goes!
She will be a 5th grader this year, and it's so hard to see her growing up and not still a "baby". I love that she still sleeps with stuffed animals, plays with her Little People and her dolls and colors and watches cartoons because I know these days are going to soon come to an end. I want to enjoy every bit of the "little girl" stage while I can.
Having a daughter is an amazing gift, and one I'm so grateful to have. Harley continues to amaze me every single day, and I could not love her more. She challenges me every day. She's willful, moody, and a complete and total drama queen. But she's also smart, beautiful, sweet, and sensitive. I cannot imagine my life without my baby girl. Happy 10th birthday, Harley Brooke! I love you!
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