Still trying to get through all my kids, Riley is number five in amongst my seven. If you know her, then you know that she is almost certifiably crazy.
18th of March 2006, to be honest with you, her birthing story is a bit ridiculous, my midwife and I had set out a lovely birthing plan, which included minimal drugs, maybe some water and a nice relaxing entrance into the world for my Lil girl. After having the twins I was ready to deliver this baby and literally walk out and go home.
One week before my due date, when Waitakere Hospital declared that my bmi was too high and that I couldn't deliver there, we made plans to have my nice natural birth at North Shore hospital..
The day I went into labour, both Waitakere and North shore hospitals failed me. I rang my midwife to tell her we were on the way to the hospital, she was happy with that and said she would meet us at North Shore hospital. 5 minutes later, we are pulling into the carpark and she rings me to tell me that the delivery suite aren't accepting anymore patients. we sit in the carpark, and I am so confused, is the hospital shut down? why aren't they taking patients? where do I go now? lets not mention the pain I was in. My midwife rings Waitakere to see if we can go there, that's a no go, so we are sitting in the car park, and my midwife is having a meltdown, swearing and yelling at her bosses, the only other option we had was either to go home and deliver, or to drive to Auckland hospital.
From North shore hospital to Auckland hospital at 4pm on a Friday afternoon, the traffic was not kind to us, I was upset and pissed off and in pain all at the same time.
We were changing health boards, so since Waitemata health board weren't helping me out, we had to go under the Auckland city health board, this meant that my midwife, who is a Waitemata midwife, couldn't do anything for me during my labor, and was only allowed into the room as a support person. My birthing plan was completely out the window, all the stress of getting into a hospital caused my body to shut down once we had arrived at Auckland hospital. My contractions stopped for about an hour, then they started again ... contractions usually come and then they go, you get a slight break before the pain starts again, but for me, the contractions wouldn't actually stop, so I had to have an epidural, just to stop the pain, and as soon as it took effect, Riley was born, my body got to relax a bit and voila. a baby. (I spared you all the real gory details).
We all call Riley, Johns baby. When she is being naughty, it's Johns fault, he raised her! When she was 3 months old I went to work and John stayed home with the kids, you could call it role reversal, but really, all my roles were still in play, when I got home from work.
Riley is our fairest kid, she has blonde in her hair and def my meat on her bones. lol. people always say that she is the most like me, but I tell you, she is the most like her dad. smart ass, always hungry, always joking around. She is for sure a little bit bi polar. mood swings for days, and she hasn't even hit the tweens yet. I am so scared of what she will be like as a teenager, not for me, but for anybody that crosses her, she is feisty and not afraid to show it.
The happy side of Riley, is one that makes me laugh everyday. She sings with her headphones on, loud and proud. she dances, but only when her older sisters aren't around. I catch her trying to write lyrics down on paper then making up her own songs. She gets so excited when she feels like she has made up the next greatest pop song ever. then she sings it to me. oh man she needs lessons in rhyming and rhythm. Riley is only 7, but she fits a size 10 and acts like she is 16. She will always be a great source of humor in our house, and is destined to be a pain in the butt for her brothers, but I say good, they need to learn to love her a bit more, even if she embarrasses them at school...every day!
She loves her Aunty Annie like no ones business, farts on her, giggles and laughs with her, writes on her, climbs and lies all over her (and she's not light!) Riley begs to go to her Aunty Annies house every weekend. you would think it was to play with her cousins, but I know she just loves annoying Ann. You can't help but love Riley, she is just too comfortable in her own skin, which lets her be a little bit more out there and ready to try anything. She manages to con most of her Aunty and Uncles into giving her what she wants, she used to follow her Aunty Ali around asking her the same questions over and over again, but there is nothing you can do but laugh, she's smiling while asking and you can't get mad at that!
Her teacher says she struggles to follow instructions at school, usually talking to her friends too much to even hear the instruction, but once she is listening and on task he says her work is always different to her class mates. she thinks outside the box, he tells me that she is one of his brightest students, because she always goes for the odd and strange, always explaining things longer than needed, doing things the hard way to prove a point and would rather be doing something different to the group, just because that's what excites her and gets her learning more. I said to her teacher, isnt that annoying? having a student that doesn't like the normal and who get bored easy. he says to me, no, that's a sign of pure genius. I laughed. But I see now, the way she does things are always going to be the hard way around, she always sees her arguments out to the end, till she's won, till she has defeated her opponent. be it her 2 year old sister or the 14 year old one. She will always fight to have her opinion heard, or her needs met (food being the main need) but I have to say, when I watch her write, she is immersed in it, head almost touching the paper and pen furiously writing, I've kept some of her stories, when she is older, I will read them out at her 21st, they sound like a female version of that stupid Adventure Time cartoon, with fat fairies and witches with pink hair.
I can't describe the love you have for your kids, till you have kids of your own, then you just know. I might have a few more children than most, and they are all different, so you love each one differently. Fellyn is my hard one to love. I love her, but it can be hard to show that love when she literally hugs my legs all day long and cries when I leave the room (what is this called? separation anxiety, I think she needs a therapist. I think I need a therapist to recover from Fellyn) Anyway! Riley is the easiest to love, she hugs you and sloppy kisses you. I find myself giving her a quick kiss goodnight, in the hope that she might go to bed quickly, and so that I don't have to wear her saliva on my face, but no, she has mastered the art of injuring you AND loving you, all at the same time and usually when you least expect it. I hope like heck that she will never change.
nice riley
the real riley
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