Happy Birthday Gert!!!!

Last Saturday was Gert's 6th Birthday. Since my laptop died I was unable to post, so I'm doing it now for a little Friday Foto Fun....

Gert wasn't planned. We had just moved from California to Minnesota and were trying to get established. We went to a friends Bon Voyage party and then spent the night at a casino/hotel.... and... well... let's just say we hit the jackpot.

I didn't realize I was pregnant at first. I just thought the stress of moving had caused Aunt Flo to take a little vacay... and so I kept getting settled and drinking a beer or wine cooler about once a day. I look back now and anytime Gert does something silly, I figure it's that early pregnancy alcohol.

Eventually my boobs started to ache and I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat... and I started to suspect. And sure enough... I was preggers. And S.I.C.K. I didn't eat for 3 months, lost 20 pounds, had to buy a recliner so I could sleep because Gert was on my sciatic nerve and sleeping horizontally was torture.... oh... and the HEARTBURN.... MILK gave me heartburn with her. You know that old wives tale about heartburn means the baby has hair. YEAH... TRUE!!!

So, we were expecting Gert around May 2nd, 2003. I was a little nervous because with Essie I had been induced and so drugged that I never felt a contraction, so I had no idea what to expect. May 2nd came and went... not Gert (or... Bert.... we didn't know what she was).... May 3rd.... May 4th.... May 5th..... May 6th.... May 7th... About this point I was getting nervous. I was born 5 weeks late and I SO did not want history to repeat itself!!! May 8th, I have an appointment - it's a Thursday afternoon. They do a non-stress test. Gert/Bert is fine, but I'm having NO contractions, and not dilated at ALL, and Gert/Bert is somewhere up near my lungs. The dr. says "Go home, have a nice weekend, and come back on Monday and we'll talk about inducing." Sigh.... fine.

That was 4:30 Thursday afternoon.

I woke up at 7:00 am Friday morning, with contractions about 6 minutes apart. I took a shower, got Essie up and ready for preschool, took her to school, told her teacher that today was the day, headed to the hospital at by 8:00 am the contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was 2 cm dilated. So, they left me alone for a while, planning to come back around 11 and talk about an epidural. Yeah... so they come back at 10 and... 8 cm.... contractions are 2 minutes apart. Guess what... we've PASSED the epidural window. They did give me a spinal block which lasted about 5 minutes, and then... we were off to the races. About 11 I hit 10 cm and started pushing. Gert was born at 11:36 am... 9 pounds, 9 ounces, 21 inches with a HEADFUL of black hair!!! She was beautiful and perfect and I was SO happy to have another girl... I know how they work.

Gert has proven to be the exact opposite of her sister. She's low key, easy to please, eager TO please, cuddly... though she can be one STUBBORN girl... she's not the natural born leader her sister is, but she's got spunk. I love her smile and her laugh. She's such a sweet treasure and each day I love learning more and more about this beautiful piece of creation I had a hand in.

So... I give you Gert.....

Early Gert:

Gert a couple minutes old:

Gert's 1st Birthday

Gert's 2nd Birthday:

Gert's 3rd Birthday (You can see she's now mastered the family cross eyes skill)

Gert's 4th Birthday... I'm a little distressed because this is the only picture I can find from that day.....

Gert's 5th Birthday.... for some reason I can't find any real pictures of that birthday:

And finally - Gert's 6th Birthday.... Cake and all