This was me, eight years ago tonight.

I remember the night that I found out I was pregnant with C. With trembling hands I handed the positive pregnancy test to Tim. His eyes lit up with joy, and while I was very excited, I was also terrified.

However by the time this photo was taken I had endured an incredibly hot summer, I was a week over due, and the anxiety from early on in my pregnancy was replaced with the sheer desire for it to be over.

When I went into labor later that night and headed to the hospital, we arrived there expecting everything to go smoothly. Hours later when her heart rate kept dropping and they couldn’t get it up, they wheeled me in for an emergency C-section. I prayed for her to live.

When I finally heard her cry, tears steamed down my face. God had given us a daughter.

And tonight for the last time, I cuddled with my seven year old girl. Tomorrow she will be eight!