24

Our first born turned 24 this week. We are reeling from the realization that she has been in our lives for that many years and yet it seems as if time has not passed.

Kelsey came to join Scott and I on January 20, 1986 at 2:30pm on a very snowy day in Utah. As a matter of fact, she was born on the first national celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday. Kelsey came into this world with lots of lights, cameras and action.

I went into labor about midnight and didn't know what to expect. We got to the hospital at about 7:00am and I was not a happy laborer. I wanted drugs. So much so that I grabbed Scott by the shirt collar, pulled his face down to mine and said, no yelled "Go get the doctor now"! With his back turned and running out the door, he said that he was laughing his head off. He had never seen me behave so out of character and apparently that was funny to him.

Needless to say, the epidural arrived and I was much more myself when Kelsey was ready to arrive. I had a little trouble with the pushing so forceps were necessary. Kelsey had a little scrape right next to her eye due to the difficult delivery. She still has a small scar next to her left eye that you can still see today. It is what makes her our Kelsey.

She looked like a screaming pirate when I got to hold her. Scott took her to get her all checked out as I was wheeled into surgery. That's right, surgery. During labor I did not empty my bladder and that thing burst. I had to go in and get stitched up while the epidural was still effective. I was so unhappy. I wanted to be with my baby girl not with a bunch of old doctors.

Kelsey was such a sweet baby. The only Roderick baby that was a little jaundiced and had to go under the lights. She looked like a mini Zorro. No matter, because we both had to stay in the hospital for 4 days. It was all worth it to have our first little girl get the family started.

We love you Kelsey Noel Roderick.