Pepper

Pepper Whittaker

Oh, Pepper, what a cutie!

When I was pregnant and the girls were big enough to start kicking around in there and have me feel them, Pepper took the cake! She was the biggest kicker ever. In fact, I called her a spaz because she could go for hours. She would kick me every which way and as soon as she got tired of one spot she would flip her whole body and start up again. Something she still loves to do today. Due to her sister's need to take up most of the belly, Pepper was pushed down into the corner of my belly. Try as she might she could never get her sister to share, however, she was able to get her back another way. Food. Pepper was taking all the nutrients and not sharing with her sister. With twin-to twin-syndrome one takes all the nutrients and the other doesn't get any. You would think the baby that was not getting anything would be the weaker baby but it is not true. It is the baby that is getting too much that is at a greater risk. Pepper and I had a talk and I told her she needed to share.

When Pepper was born she was too blue and had a hard time breathing on her own the first day. It was so scary and luckily she was able to fight through it and within a few hours was doing much better. The next day she was breathing on her own and doing great. In the NICU she did wonderful. She was taken off the warming bed, taken off the IVs, and taken off the monitor faster then they thought she would be. In fact, they let me take her home the day I went home. It was a dream come true to be able to take a baby home. I had spent that day crying because they told me I would have to go home without my babies. I remember bringing my Pepper home and putting her in her crib. She was so small. I remember thinking the crib was way too big for her. My dad even said that I could fit like eight more babies in the crib with her. (no way, two is enough for this momma)

She cracks me up all the time. She is a very happy baby and smiles a lot. She is also my big noise maker. She talks (baby gabble) more, screams louder, and cries longer. We have started to reach the age where they can hear themselves, and I love to wake up in the morning and hear her talking softly to herself in the crib. She ga-gas and goo-goos all morning long and when I go into get her out of the crib I am met with the biggest smile. She loves to smile and sometimes it's a little smirk and others times she smiles so big that her whole mouth opens. Her smile warms my heart and she could be crying all day long and in one moment smile at me and all my frustrations fall away. I love her smile.

She loves to look at the world around her. She looks at her hands and looks at her binki. She looks at her toys and loves to hold and look at moms hands too. She likes to be read to and I love how I can tell she is learning everything she can. She loves her baths and loves to watch me pour the water on her belly. She watches me so closely when I am feeding her and looks around for daddy when she hears his voice enter the room. When I dress her now she wants to hold onto the next item of clothing until I need it. So I'll give her her pants to hold, then her socks, then her hat or bow, then her bracelet or binki. She studies each item until I need it, then I give her the next one. I love how much she loves to learn and I can't wait until the next step of learning.

I love my Pepper so much, and I am so thankful that God sent her to me.

I love you Pepper!