She’s 24; Why Does that Make Me Feel Old! My baby girl turned 24 this week! A spicy “little” girl, that came into the world screaming…constantly! Born with light red hair, tiny and seemed so fragile. Only weighing just above 6 lbs and the first to set her mama on edge, she screamed for a week solid. I cried, she cried, she was hungry, I was tired, and I was a nervous wreck. She was my second child, not really my first rodeo, and I knew there something wrong. My baby was having troubling sucking; I cut the nipples and dripped the formula in her mouth. It was then she was lying on her back screaming and I noticed her mouth…she was so tiny it was hard to see. I grabbed a flashlight and forced her mouth open again. I had never seen anything like it. A ridge down the center separated the roof of her mouth, two small narrow cavities down either side. I called the doctor’s office, they didn't have an opening, and I didn't care. I called my mother and we headed to the clinic. A cleft palate undetected, I was literally starving my baby. The ridge was her nose, and the cavities her nasal passages. Weighing only just above 5 lbs at this point, I felt defeated, crying more & the nurses cried with me. I was exhausted but relieved for an answer. She was missing the hard and soft palates. The next few days were a blur; Feeding specialists, doctor appointments, clinics, accusations from my spouse, but finally a happier baby and some rest. The next several years were full of doctor appointments, surgeries, hospital stays, and a little girl that wore cowboy boots with her dresses, snuck away to see the horses on the edge of town, crossed her arms, stomped her feet, and kicked a doctor or two. She’s neither my youngest nor my only girl but her father and I still call her “baby girl”, odd since we were divorced by the time she turned 2. She’s feisty and a fighter! She’s her mother’s daughter times 10. She’s opinionated and driven, a hard worker, and full of grand ideas. She’s 24, I don’t know why that makes me feel old, and her older brother is 28 and going to be a daddy. That should age me but it didn't even phase me, I’m not sure why her birthday did. Today she’s become one of my best friends, a transition not all mothers’ make with their kids. I talk to her several times a week via phone, text, FB, etc. and in December of this year she’ll graduate with her second degree. I’m proud of my feisty baby girl.
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Cynthia"Don't put an age limit Archives
July 2018
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