Happy 9th Birthday, my Angelkenz!

Super long post.....all about McKenzie's birth. Read it or pass on it--it's for my blog journal.

Today is her birthday...she is so so sick. Poor Kenzie is battling that horrible flu and now has bronchitis to go along with it. She's also puking along with all the other fun symptoms. I guess she's had better birthdays...but at least we started celebrating early last weekend!

...Once Upon A Time (9 years ago) in a galaxy far far away (Mesa, Arizona), McKenzie Beth made her appearance in our family with a bang! She was an absolute dream-come-true as my first daughter. I LOVED the idea of having a boy, then a girl. My life was perfect.

McKenzie was no ordinary baby...in fact her in-utero experience was an extraordinary 9 months...of growth in our marriage, faith in the things that are most important, hope that all would turn okay, and that we would be able to accept whatever Heavenly Father had in store for us. You see, McKenzie had clusters of choroid plexus cysts covering her right and left lobes of her brain which sent us to specialists throughout the pregnancy. It was a rare condition at that time and not much was known as ultrasound technology was becoming more and more advanced. The thought now is that these cysts are present on many fetus' brains and just go undetected. Back in '98 and '99 it was an issue as we went through genetic counseling and even one specialist counseled us to terminate the pregnancy if an amniocentesis indicated a problemed fetus. . I was not willing to do an amniocentesis because of the risks with that and so what if McKenzie was going to have problems....she was meant for us no matter what. They thought the chances of McKenzie having trisomy 13 was very likely and survival would be nearly impossible. Certainly if she survived and didn't have trisomy 13, the chances that she'd be a downs syndrome baby was great, which was fine with us--we'd take whatever was in store for our family. But I spent the whole pregnancy preparing myself mentally to care for this potentially challenged baby.

Fast forward....her cysts dissolved at about 8 months in-utero and didn't impact her brain development (we think!!!!) We still didn't know what anomalies to expect at birth, which was a very spiritual experience as well. I didn't feel one labor pain with Brayden--at least the way labor is supposed to feel. I really wanted to 'feel' the sacrifice (in a painful kind of way...call me crazy) of bringing a child into this world without drugs. I was a trooper, but man, I was not meant to be a pioneer. Okay, so I felt it. I went through the whole labor feeling it. I was done feeling it. I begged for the epidural when I got to 8 cm's...just in time for them to give me my episiotomy. But really, it was like going to the other side and sacrificing to bring this precious baby into the world. Epidurals were my friend from there on out. Technology is great, isn't it?

McKenzie was born 3 weeks early. I had no labor pains that rushed me to the hospital. I felt pressure and just felt like it was time, right then, without timed contractions, to get to the hospital...3 weeks early. We got to the hospital and I was dilated to 5 cm's already. At delivery we discovered that she had a placental condition called circumvalet. The umbilical cord had detached from the placenta almost completely--it was hanging by a thread. McKenzie HAD to be born right then, otherwise we would have delivered a still-born any later. I'm so glad I felt the need to get to the hospital.

McKenzie looked perfect. No signs of any problems. We didn't continue with our plan to have chromosomal tests because she just looked like a normal newborn...no anomalies-just 6 lbs 4 ounces of cute baby girl...until the severe jaundice set it. Usually a very routine experience for babies, but McKenzie's was severe. Her bilirubin was 23--a few points away from a total blood transfusion. She was admitted to the hospital after her temp quickly dropped, she was listless, hadn't eaten for 12 hours, and severely dehydrated. While in the hospital for 6 days getting a suntan under the bili-lights, she contracted RSV and ended up having to go back to the hospital for another week. She learned early on to be a fighter and we have seen that same fighting spirit in our little Viviana Faith. I remember staying up night after night sitting with McKenzie in my arms to get her in a comfortable breathing position. We had to deep suction her at home every 3 hours without any formal training--which is amazing looking back. I must have had a guided hand for that tube to end up in the right place because that could have caused some major damage! So McKenzie had many struggles to overcome very early in life...it's no wonder she's a fighter today and has such a strong personality.

McKenzie, your 'birthday' was truly an event to be remembered. You are such a talented, loving, intelligent, kind, giving, dream-come-true, my sweet AngelKenz! You are my 2nd pair of hands with how helpful you are with your little sisters. You have a huge responsibility to always set an example for them and to make the right choices. I love how you are always the first to hand out compliments and lift others' spirits. You're so great at making people feel good about themselves. You are compassionate and I also love your zeal for life and passion for things that are important to you. You can be dang funny with the things you come up with! You spoke complete sentences when you were 18 months old and even today have a very mature ability to express yourself---sometimes tactful, other times not so much! You were named after your great great grandmother, Rebecca McKenzie, who endured many challenges of her own. Your middle name is Beth, just like your Ama's who sets a great example to follow. I love you dearly, my beautiful McKenzie! Happy 9th Birthday!