There goes my baby

My little girl is officially not little anymore! Sabrina is 5 today and I just can't believe it. I think five is a hard birthday. It means your kid is not a baby anymore. There's such a noticeable change in them. They want to do everything alone now. I know they should be doing things by themselves, but doesn't that kind of make you feel helpless as a parent? Sure, they still need you for lots of stuff, but now they realize that there are lots of things they don't need you for and they don't mind telling you that. I can remember five years ago like it was yesterday. It was so darn hot. I think there were more than a dozen days that summer that were over 90 degrees. I remember going to hospital on the 17th, only to be sent home with false labor. My first child was two weeks early and my second was born on her actual due date. They told me that only happens 30 percent of the time. Or was it 13? I don't remember - I was in pain. I think I got to the hospital around 5 in the morning and she was born at 8. Pushed twice. The nurse manager went around to all the other laboring moms and told them "Hey, that lady in there just had her baby in under three minutes so let's go!" Needless to say, they all hated me. But they got their revenge. Minutes after she was born, I was in the shower, dressed and kicked out of the beautiful room. They were so crowded with moms that I got sent to the annex - the old maternity wing. Ick. I was all alone and not in one of those pretty rooms that feels like home. Someone forgot to put me on the meal list so I didn't get food from the hospital until I was leaving. In the nice wing, your view is the Hudson River. From my room, I got to see the incinerator and listen to the garbage trucks at 6 in the morning! After my first night, they said I could go home. Yeah, right - I can get a free night alone where I can rest and get some sleep and you will take care of my baby and tend to my every need while my insurance company pays for it? Um, I think I'll stay - bad view and all. It was a weird time for me. When Sabrina came, I wasn't even sure what I was going to name her. Chris picked the name, actually. I wanted to name her Caroline and call her Carly. It's a blessing, now, because we would have ended up going nuts calling our girls Caty and Carly! It was just different the second time around. I wasn't as emotional because I knew what to expect. This time, I wasn't so scared. So, in a snap, it's five years later. I know I'm going to blink my eyes and she'll be 25! Everyone tells you it goes so fast. It goes too fast. Happy Birthday to my baby.