Abby’s Diary: Wait, What Alexis is 27?

On a hot, humid, Baltimore Friday night in 1990 Alexis Nicole Vega decided to try and make her way into this world. Let me start by saying that I dearly love my daughter, but she is one stubborn, slow to change young lady. Then and now! My mom and I were wasting time and money playing Bingo that night in Glen Burnie, Maryland awaiting her arrival as I was at my due date, and Juan was working his new job in Miami, waiting for the call. I don’t think I won a dollar that night, but I remember being so uncomfortable that I had to play Bingo standing up all night. The discomfort increased thru the night and was reoccurring fairly regularly so that by Saturday morning I placed a call to Juan and said you probably should try and get here as soon as you can, and I made my first trip to the hospital only to be sent back home telling me I wasn’t ready yet.

Saturday trudged along painfully as well and by Sunday morning Juan arrived and yet there was still no baby, no water breaking, just constant increasing in intensity labor pains.

At my urgent pleading, once Juan was settled in we went back to the hospital, this time admitting me. Now we were getting somewhere, (or so I thought).

My whole family decided to hang out at the hospital awaiting the first granddaughter and yet Lexi was taking her sweet time making her entrance. They administered Pitocin to speed up and strengthen my contractions. It worked! They were coming fast and furious. They administered an epidural to ease the pain. That hurt like a “mo fo” and did nothing to ease my pain. Sunday night while Juan decided to go get something to eat, my younger brother took a turn with me at my side and that’s when they brought in what he referred to as a “turkey baster” to break my water. I don’t think he ever recovered from witnessing that trauma nor my constant pain. Late into Sunday night after everyone but Juan went home to get some sleep, they decided it was time for me to start pushing. So I huffed and I puffed, I pushed, and I pushed, for hours, and still no Lexi. The doctor kept yelling at me that I wasn’t doing it right and I yelled back, asking if he cared to switch places with me and do it himself since he was such an expert. He politely declined my offer. Next came scissors and an explanation that all they could see was this bowling ball size head of dark hair that just didn’t have enough room to get out.

Technically now I have been in labor since Friday night about 6:00p.m. It’s now in the early hours of Monday morning, and I have had nothing but ice chips, no sleep, no food, only pain for fifty plus hours. My response was to do whatever needs to be done to let me see my baby. A few snips, and a couple pushes later at 6:17 a.m. Alexis was plopped onto my tummy like a wet chicken where Juan got to cut the cord and the 60 hour labor marathon was finally over. My parents were called and they made their way back to the hospital to come meet their first granddaughter. They say as soon as you see your child you forget about all the pain. That’s a big fat lie!! Twenty seven years later I can tell you I still remember every detail. It took Juan seven years to convince me to even think about doing that again.

But these are the thing about Alexis that I want you to know that make every minute of that labor worthwhile.

She is a Monday’s child that is fair of face. That means she is very pretty. But there is so much more to her than a pretty face. Everywhere I took her as a baby in Miami people would look at her and say “A Que linda” or oh how pretty!

Alexis is also very smart. She is an IB graduate of Nease High School. A University of Florida graduate Summa Cum Laude in 3.5 years.

While still tiny and petite, the rest of her body caught up to her head!

Alexis is very imaginative and creative. She loved school and her favorite teacher who taught her the key elements of scholastic success was Elisa Mairone. She loved playing school and has the highest educated Beanie Baby collection on the First Coast. I travelled for my job so whenever I went someplace different I brought her one back.

She is extremely competitive because I never let her win, she learned early how to win and takes great pleasure when she beats me at something!

Don’t ever play Disney trivia with her, as she watched every Disney film at least 50 times!

She won a scholarship for being the most promising Hispanic Marketing student.

She has worked two jobs since graduating and works very hard at achieving perfection at everything she is given, earning a promotion almost annually.

She has always exercised great judgement with her choices of schools, friends, and her husband Travis.

She is a hard-worker almost to a fault but she will never let you down.

She’s a great cook, but then again she had an awesome teacher.

She is a good Christian with a kind, loving, and giving heart.

She is a wonderful big sister to Justin even though he stands a foot taller than her and weighs 100 lbs. more than she does. He respects her and looks to her and Travis for advice and guidance.

She is a wonderful friend still maintaining friendships with people from grade school and high-school.

My favorite memories of Lexi are of her putting on my high heel shoes, pearls, and clothes and carrying my briefcase around as an executive when she was only 5or 6 years old. Office supplies still make her face light up like Christmas! And when as a toddler she would tug on my shirt and say “hold you me”. We took lots of fun business trips together to New York to see plays, Las Vegas for under-age gambling, and Oregon to an Indian reservations where she lost “Floppity” her favorite stuffed animal, may he rest in peace in ancient Indian burial grounds! Every Saturday was shopping day and/or mommy and me mani-pedi’s. I even remember the first story board you created while I had you at work with me at an ad agency here in Jacksonville. You were born a business executive!

Happy 27th Birthday baby girl! Your mom and dad love you and are so very proud of you and all that you have become. You’re a dream daughter that we are so blessed to call ours. We wish you great joy, happiness, success, good health, much love and a fairy tale future full of only happy endings. You are loved unconditionally forever. (Sorry I lied about Santa, The Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, but mostly the Leprechaun)