Happy Birthday, Steph

Our grand daughter turned eight years old today. This isn't really anything special except for one very important thing. The day she was born she was 10 weeks premature and weighed 2 pounds. It was almost surreal looking at her in the isolette. I read her measurements over and over and wondered to myself how, in later years, I would be able to grasp just how small she really was. SO I took those measurements and hunted high and low for just the right bunny rabbit. It had to be exactly 14 inches long and weigh no more than 2 pounds. it had to have thin arms and legs. It took me a while but I was relentless finding just exactly the right stuffed animal. The nurses let me put it in her isolette and we took a photograph of her next to the bunny. We've taken this photograph every year on her birthday to remind us all of how tiny she was and to remind Stephanie as well of what a fighter she was. She came home from the hospital a little over 4 pounds with very little health issues. We thank God everyday for sending her to us and allowing us to keep her. I just thought you'd all like to know how wonderful the staff in the neonatal unit at Dartmouth Hitchcock really is. I even wrote a piece on her first birthday and sent it to the papers along with her 1st birthday photo. Attached to this piece is the one I took today.