Seventeen!

    Today is my daughter's 17th birthday!  It is hard to believe that 17 years have flown by so quickly.  Alyssa was born about a month early, after a difficult pregnancy (a seizure at 6 weeks, mild contractions at only 2 months along, and full bedrest at 6 months).  It was a stormy night in San Diego, where we lived at the time.  Getting to the hospital late at night, we had to dodge tree limbs and debris while the winds howled and the rain poured.  The labor and delivery ward even had a leak in the roof!  I got an epidural soon after we arrived (my other birth was all natural), and waited for a few hours.  As we were chatting, my husband looks down and says, 'Something is coming out!' and out slipped Alyssa just in time for the nurse to catch her.  The doctor arrived soon after, and told us we all did a great job without her!  After a rough pregnancy, it was the easiest birth ever!!  Alyssa was beautiful, and I was amazed that I had a little girl of my own. 

After we got cleaned up, they wheeled us down to our room.  Jeff and my family decided to go home and get some sleep, and as I sat alone gazing down at this beautiful creation of God's, I looked out the window to see a HUGE, beautiful rainbow.  The storm had cleared. It was the most amazing moment.  I will never forget it.  I tried to think of some way I could incorporate 'rainbow' into her name, even another language's translation of it, but never found anything I liked. 

Alyssa has been a rainbow in my life for 17 years now-I couldn't be more blessed having her for a daughter.  Happy Birthday!