A is for Anna...

A is for ANNA:

I know that I just did a post about Anna just a few days ago but I couldn't do the ABC's of me without doing a post about this important little A in my life. Since I just posted all the little things I love about my baby girl I thought I would post about what I remember about her pregnancy and birth. Finding out I was pregnant with Anna was definitely a surprise. We had a hard time getting pregnant with Joseph and we weren't really trying when I found out that I was pregnant. We found out in July. I remember the night I took the pregnancy test. It was a Friday night and Dave and I had gone to Big Lots earlier in the day to buy a birthday present for one of our friend's little girls. I remember buying the test because I thought that there was a remote possibility that I could be pregnant and the test was only 99 cents. We bought and laughed but didn't really think much of it. We babysat our nephew Dallin that night. Dave was in the other room playing with Joseph and Dallin while I took the test. The two blue lines appeared almost immediately. I was so surprised. I took the test in the other room to show David. We both laughed and then cried. We were really excited. At first we thought that we would wait to tell our families but we were too excited and we made the rounds to tell all of our parents and friends. We bought a little stuffed animal with a note that said "Joseph is excited to announce that he is going to be a big brother!" Then we took this picture of Joseph and sent it to our family and friends who were far away. I was much sicker with Anna's pregnancy than I was with Joseph's. Everyone kept saying that I must be having a girl then. I sort of just knew all along that we were having a girl. But I have to admit I felt that same way when I was pregnant with Joseph. When we went for the ultrasound we were excited to find out that it was indeed a girl. We went out to eat at IHOP with Joseph after the ultrasound. We had fun buying pink things the next few months. When we were pregnant with Joseph, before we found out he was a boy, we picked out a boy's name (Joseph) and a girl's name (Anna). Anna is after my paternal grandfather's mother who died when my grandpa was only four years old. She died in Denmark. Her name was Anna Johanna. We gave Anna the same middle name (Jean) as David's mom who died when he was an infant. She is named after two incredible women! The days leading up to Anna's birth were somewhat stressful. My grandad (my mom's dad) was dying in St. George. I remember my mom telling me that she thought that Anna would meet her grandad in heaven before she was born. I really wanted to have Anna in time for me to possibly make it down for the funeral. This was my first grandparent to die so it was really difficult. My grandad died on a Wednesday and Anna was born on Saturday. The funeral was the same day we brought Anna home from the hospital. Obviously we didn't make it to the funeral. My grandad had these really pretty blue eyes and so does Anna. Friday night I had contractions all night long. When David started to get up to go to work I told him that I thought we better go to the hospital instead. We got there and got all checked in. The nurse checked me and then she checked me an hour later and said that there wasn't really any progress. The nurse suggested that we take a little walk around the hospital. We did and it worked! Labor and delivery was much easier the second time around. I was so excited to finally have my baby girl here. She was born at 3:18 p.m. on March 14, 2009. She was 7 lbs. 11 oz and 21 inches long. She was a healthy baby and she nursed like a champ. She did have to do the bili. lights because she was jaundice. It was the most amazing experience to have a second child. It is amazing to know that mother's love can be so powerful and strong for more than one child. She is a special little A!

Song: Baby Mine (Anna's song)

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