happy birthday, Lana

I woke up thinking
this is the day
Finally!
You’d think
since the first one was 12 ½ weeks early
the second one would at least be a week or so early!
Nope
2 minutes before her due date
was all the early she could muster.
~
I waited an hour or so
just to be sure.
Then I tried calling Tyler
(Army - 'nuff said)
After getting the run-around for about 10 minutes
I finally told the person on the phone,

“I need to talk to Tyler now.

This is his wife. I am in labor.

He needs to call me before he comes home."
I hadn’t wanted to tell anyone;
I knew when they told him
he’d freak out and speed home.
And I didn’t want him to come home
I wanted him to go to the quick-stop

and get me a raspberry filled powdered-sugared donut first!
But
in about 5 minutes
He showed up at the window
(another story entirely)
wondering why on earth I was so calm
and not ready to go…
~
The hospital was about 45 minutes away
in Landstuhl , Germany
We got there early afternoon.
They checked me
said I wasn’t doing much of anything
and we should walk around.
We went to the cafeteria to get something to eat
After all - I never did get my jelly donut!
We got settled in a room early evening.
~
Fast forward to 11 pm
I wasn’t progressing quickly
But I sure was in pain!
The nurse was impatient with me
and told me I better get a grip
'cause that baby wasn’t coming any time soon!
I had a grip!
I was hanging onto Tyler’s sleeve
And apparently, with every contraction
I would twist the sleeve.
Tighter.
Tyler called the nurse in and told her I thought it was time
She grumbled, but took us to the delivery room
She didn’t bother calling the doctor on duty
you know
since I wasn’t having the baby any time soon.
She told Tyler to help get me on the delivery table
He grabbed me from behind
she went to the foot of the bed.
She starts saying, “Stop!”
Tyler wasn’t sure what I was doing,
but he chimed in too, telling me to stop whatever it was.
He was going to just throw me on that table by himself
since the nurse didn’t seem to be helping.
‘No, You stop!”
This time
it’s clear she’s not talking to me, after all,
she’s talking to Tyler!
The doc never even got called
and I sure didn’t make it onto that table!
Just a few minutes later
and there she was
A girl!
Our little princess
Lana Marie
~

She was a dream child,
giving us very little trouble over the years
and
bringing us so much joy
And now, in just 24 days
Poof
She’ll be gone.
How can 20 years go by in the blink of an eye?
I love you,
my beautiful daughter
my friend