My first baby, Alysa.

One of the first signs of pregnancy is when you have a missed period.  Not me. Next sign would more than likely be morning sickness. Not me. So what's the next stage? Maybe weight gain? Well, not me again. When it was all said and done I only gained about 25-30lbs. Trust me, that's not enough to notice one pound at a time.  My first sign was the most god awful gas. To the point that even made a doctors appointment for it. Needless to say I went to the doctor and guess what they said? YOUR PREGNANT! I thought oh my! I was 26 years old and still felt to young to have a baby. The rest of my pregnancy went off without a hitch provided I always had a LARGE jar of applesauce. My due date was December 2 which coincidentally was the two year anniversary of my dad's passing. However, Alysa had other plans.  I was leaking amniotic fluid so I had an ultrasound done weekly to measure it.  Finally the result from my last ultrasound was that I needed to go home gather my things and get to the hospital for observation. So I did just that. It was November 9th and there I was "being observed". I mean, how can you even be comfortable with cords attached everywhere. But I made it through the night.  The next morning, at 9am, my nurse came in and said, "It looks like you've lost more fluid.  Do you want to have a baby today?' I said "NO!" I was scared now.  It was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not. And no, I did not do it naturally.  I am a firm believer in if you can do it with less pain then take advantages of the medicines.  I do not love her any less because I didn't feel her stretching and ripping out of my vagina. So fast forward 12 hours later and my little baby is here!

Alysa Renee Pace

Born November 10, 1995

@ 10:50p.m.

6lbs. 7oz.

19"

Before leaving the hospital they always have a pediatrician give a once over to all babies to make sure everything checks out. You know hearing, eyes, reflexes etc. Well, there was one test my baby didn't pass. It was the simple stethoscope to the heart to listen to the beats.  There were no beats.  I was told that her heart sounded like a washing machine. What? My baby is already broke and I haven't even left the hospital? So at this point I had to follow up with a cardiologist within the week. So that's what we did. I had to take her to get an ultrasound. In less than a week I had an ultrasound to see her and now she was having an ultrasound to see inside of her.  She was diagnosed with Tetrology of Fallot. A very serious defect that had four components to be fixed. The projected date was unknown. It was whenever she reached a healthy weight of about 15-20lbs. She reached that goal at 5months. Open heart surgery here we come! 

I just wanted to show that cute little swirl that turned into the most enormous cow lick which turned into the most beautiful widows peak. 2 months old.

April 15, 1996. At 5mo. and 5days old. My baby was born again. Her heart was repaired and we spend six days in the hospital.  Can you believe that? 6 DAYS! The first thing I wanted to do when I saw her in ICU was listen to her heartbeat. YES! She finally had one.

I felt weird taking her home, which to me, felt like to soon. She had lots and lots of medicine to take for several weeks. She did not like it when I would come at her with those yucky syringes. But she was a good baby and even did the right thing when she didn't know what the right thing was. Not much has changed even today.

It seems like so long ago that this all happened and then again it seems like yesterday. Today you can imagine, Alysa has a fairly big scar from her surgery. However I think that she is proud of it in the sense that she knows that she survived a major surgery that she didn't even know how strong she needed to be. And was. 

Now lets take a picture walk.......

6 months

Happy 1st Birthday!

Look at the cake. I made it!

Go ahead and laugh.  We all do every time we look at this picture.  This is Alysa's cousin, Alex. Alysa would follow her around like a puppy dog. Alex could do no wrong. They are 15months apart. They have grown up like sisters. But for some reason Alex didn't want to keep her tongue in her mouth. It captured this point in time for both so we kept this picture.  Alysa as you can see has a half smile. The beginning signs of her shyness.

They are always so sweet while sleeping.  She is covered with a blanket that was mine when I was her age. I still have it. Of course, it is very very worn.

Diapers = long hair.

Again with the shyness. This was at a pre-school performance and she DID NOT want to be on stage with everyone looking at her.

Pre-school graduation from Tusculum Hills Church of Christ.

Awww.....one of my favorite pictures. 5 years old

Pre-school

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

6th & 7th grade pictures were.....lets just say so horrible we didn't even buy them. We'll just call those the extremely awkward years.

8th grade

9th Grade

10th

Sometimes I can't believe that I have created such a great kid. Not that I'm bad. Alysa is so driven, organized, pretty, dedicated, wicked smart (favorite phrase from one of my favorite movies, Good Will Hunting). Her sense of direction would floor you. She has been able to tell me how "to go" since before she could really form words. The memory she has is almost scary. There is no gray area with her only black and white. She has beautiful penmanship and loves to write. Whether it be homework, filling out messages on her LARGE dry erase board in her room or organizing something alphabetically. She loves it all! I often joke and say that she is my personal assistant because she can take care of just about anything. She is very funny and has a great sense of humor but can get mad as a hornet. You would never know all the above unless you've known her for years and years and years because she is so quite and shy.

All this being said, my baby girl is 16 today!!!! So this afternoon we will be getting her drivers license. I only tell you this because that means I'll be on the road more and I am the one you need to worry about.

HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY ALYSA!!!

Love , Mom