In my dreams...

Hadley turns one month old at the end of this week, Friday to be exact. We'll be celebrating the day by going to the doctor, where she'll probably have to have a shot or two. :( I hate that. Avery hasn't had to have a shot in a while, and I'm nervous about the day that she'll have to again. Which will probably be next summer.

Anyway. One whole month has passed since my sweet baby girl was born. A month that has simply rushed by. Last week, in the doctor's office, I kept telling people she was 2 weeks old. Really she was closer to 3 1/2. I totally skipped quite a few days there, apparently.

The weirdest part is that I've only "known" her for one month. It's only been one month since I saw her light red hair for the first time. One month since I noticed her nose was very similar to her big sister's. Since I counted and awed over her long fingers and toes. Since I found out she makes lots of baby noises in her sleep, as well as laughing. Since I found out that when you open her diaper up for a diaper change, 1 out of 2 times she will poop and pee again.
One month since I saw her gorgeous face and fell head over heels in love with her.

The funniest part though is that I feel like I've known her my whole life. Perhaps she was the baby girl I dreamt about since our first miscarriage after having Avery, which was about 2 years and a few months before giving birth to Hadley. I've seen her in my dreams, yet she's more gorgeous in person than she ever was in my head. Whether it's true or not, I just have a familiar feeling in my chest when I look at her.
I know you... I always have.

I tried to explain this feeling to Andrew, this feeling that I just know her. Her face is not unfamiliar to me. I didn't really feel this way until we got home from the hospital. Maybe I'm the only mom that thinks the "switched at birth thing" could happen to me, so I kept trying to memorize what she looked like before they'd take her to the nursery. It wasn't until her features changed from the newborn chubby baby face into more of an infant's face that I started feeling that way. She just looks so familiar to me.
Maybe it's just a mother thing, but to me, it's because I've met her before. In my dreams. She had been there all along. It was a long road to travel to get to her, but she was always there, I just didn't know it.