Happy (Belated) Birthday Mallory!

Mallory turned three a couple weeks ago. I can't hardly believe my baby girl is already 3!!
I LOVE my Mallory! I have a very special bond with her. For those of you who don't know. . . . . we almost lost her a number of times while I was pregnant with her. At 18 weeks we went to go find out if we were having a girl or a boy. We found out we were having a girl and we also found out that my body was already halfway through the laboring process. We were devastated!
We didn't know if we were going to be able to keep her in there for the rest of the pregnancy. We got sent to one of the best high-risk doctors in the state. I was immediately put on STRICT bedrest. I had ultrasounds done every 10 days to measure my cervix and to see how stressed out the baby was under the pressure of the contractions. We had an in-home nursing company come in and I had to wear a contraction monitoring belt everyday, twice a day for an hour each time. The contractions I was having were strong enough to "ripen" my cervix for childbirth. This monitoring belt would measure the strength of my contractions and the number of contractions I was having. I would get the results to my nurse and judging by my results she would either tell me, "Good job you've been staying down like your supposed to - you only had a few contractions." Or I would get a firm talking to, "I know you've been up doing things you're not supposed too. Your uterus is going crazy!! If you don't stay down that baby's going to come early and she won't make it or she'll end up in the NICU for months! Do you want that?" It was horrible! Chase was always away at someone else's house being watched. I missed him so much! If someone came over to clean my house they would watch Chase too so I could at least spend some time with him - from the couch. I had my line-up of TV shows I would watch everyday. The only time I ever watched soap operas was while I was on bedrest. We had no cable and that's all that was on in the afternoon. I laugh if I catch a glimpse of one now! They are so unrealistically dramatic! I read books, but you can only read for so long. We had take out food, pizza, and meals brought in for 5 long months because I wasn't allowed up to cook. We tried some medications that were unsuccessful in stopping my contractions that also had terrible side effects. At 26 weeks after one of the many ultrasounds, I remember the ultrasound tech finishing up and she went to go take the results to my doctor. The doctor came right in and said, "Go straight to the hospital - don't go anywhere else - go straight to the hospital." I don't ever remember being so scared in my life! We kept her in 11 weeks longer. At 36 weeks I begged the doctor to take her! I was going crazy with not being able to get up, our marriage was stressed to the MAX at this point through all of this (it was just as hard on Craig as it was on me), Chase really didn't have his mommy, and I was done! I told the doctor, "I'm just done - I can't do this anymore!" We had an amnio done to see if her lungs were ready. They were and we had a c-section a few days later. I had NEVER been so grateful to hear a baby cry. A tear rolled down my cheek when I heard her cry. My arms were strapped to the table so I didn't get to hold her until I got to the recovery room after the surgery. She was perfect! And absolutely beautiful! After telling her I loved her I remember telling her something along the lines of, "Do you have any idea what you put me through?" I was smiling when I said it of course. The little stinker! I spoiled her rotten as a baby. I loved getting up in the middle of the night with her. I had a baby to get up to hold and to love and to snuggle! I was just so glad that she had made it to us! Getting her here has been my hardest trial in life by far. I think I feel especially close to Mallory because of what I went through to get her here. Her birthdays are very special to me. We truly have reason to celebrate her birth each year. She truly is a precious gift from God. Sometimes I think the only thing that kept her in there at times were the priesthood blessings that were given to me. I love you Miss Mallory!!

Three things about Mallory:
1. I swear this girl has an internal people magnet. People love her! Everywhere she goes whether it's church or the grocery store or to family things - everyone wants to talk to Mallory. I've had many people say they just love to be around her. She just wiggles her way right into your heart!

2. Mallory gives the best hugs! She squeezes so tight! Mallory makes you feel like you are the most important person in the world to her when she hugs you. She is so good at giving love!

3. She was high maintenance before she came into this world and I swear she'll go out that way! We always joke about her future husband. Being that he's married to Mallory he'd better like having Cling Wrap as his wife. She loves to smother with affection. She's very clingy - to anyone for that matter - that will accept her attentions. It's fine for now, but we've gotta change that before she gets into boys!

We love you Mallory!