Hannah is 7!

On March 26 at 12:33 a.m., Hannah turned 7! I cannot believe it was seven years ago she joined our family. It has gone by so fast but yet it seems as though she has been part of Dave and I forever.

I remember checking into the hospital on March 25 and being induced. With Hannah's pregnancy, I was diabetic and had high blood pressure. When the mom has gestational diabetes the babies are more prone to being on the larger side. When Dave was born he weighed over 11 pounds. It was either 11 lbs 4 oz or 11 lbs 7 oz. When my Dad was born he weighed 10 pounds. There was no way I wanted a large baby so when the doctor wanted to induce me I was all over it.

Hannah was quite stubborn and after 15+ hours of labor, pushing on two separate occasions, and the lovely vacuum device, I was taken to the O.R. for an emergency c-section. For only weighing in at 6 lbs 10 oz, she surely did not want to come out!

After Hannah was born, it became a very scary time for me. I started to hemorrhage and became very ill. I remember Dave coming back to the recovery room to let me know that Hannah was alright and I remember holding her briefly at around 4:30 a.m. but other than that it's quite a blur. I remember Dave calling his Dad to come to the hospital to assist in giving me a blessing. I think this corresponded with me holding her around 4:30 a.m. because I vaguely remember them being in the room. Sometime around 8 a.m. I was given a blood transfusion because my levels were so low. It took a few days, but I was able to pull through. It was a hard and scary time but looking at Hannah now I'd have to say she's worth it.

I put Hannah's name in the Kix 96 weekday birthday drawing on Thursday morning. To our surprise she won! She won a free birthday cake from Shaffer Bakery, lunch or dinner from Papa Kelsey's, a surprise gift from Coppin's Hallmark, and an ice cream from Casper's Malt Shoppe. She was totally shocked when they read her name. You should have seen her face. This was a time that I wished I had the camera.

Thursday was pretty low key because we knew we were celebrating a day later at Chuck-E-Cheese in Layton. We loaded in the car Friday mid-morning, picked everyone up and headed to Layton. These are the ones that came to celebrate: Hannah, Me, Dave, Ashley, Nicole, Grandma Peterson, Alicia (cousin), Rachel (cousin), Nate (uncle), Bridger (cousin), and Sam (cousin). It actually turned out to be a fun celebration but I was exhausted by the time we got home at 5:30 p.m.

The presents consisted of Barbie Walkie Talkies, a beaded watch band and watch face, a princess pillow and lip gloss from Alicia and Rachel, two shirts from Grandma Peterson, a gift card to Walmart, and when it gets warmer we're getting a trampoline!!!

Hannah - we are so thankful that you are part of our family and we love you very much. I cannot imagine life without you. I am proud of the girl you are and am excited to see the girl you will become. I love your infectious smile. I love your desire to learn. I love seeing how willing you are to serve your sisters. You are a joy to have in our lives! Thank you for being part of our family.

We love you Hannah! Happy Birthday!!!!