21/04/2022
**Long post ahead but very special message if you are willing to take a few moments to read!!!**
Today marks a very special day! It’s our birthday!!! Happy 8th Birthday to Princess Parties by Malinda! 🎉 We're honored to say that we have been making dreams come true for 8 years! On April 20th, 2014, I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue my dreams. Over the course of 8 years, we’ve had the honor of participating in over 2,000 celebrations, hosted several
in-person and virtual events, made 100s of personalized character videos, touched many children's lives, watched your children grow, and shared many hugs!
Today on this very special day, I would like to share my heart with you all and please know, all is well. I previously shared with everyone that I was expecting my first child and I announced here on my page when my baby girl arrived. We have currently been closed for my maternity leave. As you may have noticed, we had planned to reopen early this year but have chose to remain closed longer than expected. Please allow me to explain in great detail.
As previously announced, Aurora Hollyn West was born on November 13, 2021 at 4:50am, my perfect healthy baby girl. I have shared before that I’m a type 1 diabetic. Being a diabetic makes pregnancy very difficult. Throughout my entire pregnancy, I spent every second of each day making sure my levels were good and heavily monitored. I knew before getting pregnant that my pregnancy would be considered high risk and would require triple the amount of appointments as a normal pregnancy. For this reason I chose to temporarily stop accepting parties before the baby arrived to focus mainly on my health and my pregnancy. I’ve never worked so hard in my life as I did throughout my entire pregnancy watching every single thing that I ate, counting every single carb intake, heavily monitoring my blood sugar levels, and so much more. 9 months later on a Friday evening at 38 weeks my water breaks (at a local restaurant) and we rush to the hospital to have a baby. Being a diabetic causes the baby to grow faster. My doctors had been talking with me for several weeks about having a c section because of the size of the baby but I really wanted to try to have her natural if at all possible. I started pushing at 12:00am and Aurora was born at 4:50am. It was a long, hard labor and delivery. I was absolutely exhausted but seeing her for the first time was the absolute best moment in my life and worth every hard moment. Shortly after labor, they lifted my bed so I was no longer laying flat on my back and I immediately felt dizzy and light headed. Things got really scary and unexpected. I went from carrying a full conversation with my mother to straight into a seizure and completely unresponsive. The doctor came running back into the room and my husband overheard him say “defib” but they were all so confused because my vitals seemed ok and my blood sugar had been perfect throughout the entire labor and delivery. My family had to watch my lifeless body lay there with a room full of doctors and nurses so confused not knowing how to help me or what to do. After what felt like forever, I finally came back. My mother was standing over top of me saying my name over and over again begging me to wake up. I could see the fear all over her face as well as my husband’s face who was holding Aurora. I then looked over and could see tears in the doctor, midwife, and the nurses eyes as they stood over top of me. The first thing I asked my mom was “Did I die?”
After this experience, I was emotionally traumatized for a long while. 5 months later I’m able to talk through the scariest moment in my life and I’ve finally overcome the thoughts of what could’ve happened. I’ve spent hours upon hours praying for God to reveal to me details about my experience. It’s so hard to explain but I felt like there was something I witnessed but I just couldn’t remember it fully, only small parts but I knew I had experienced something. I could feel it and I vaguely remembered small details. Weeks later, I was lying in bed and God finally refreshed my memory and I fully remembered everything….every single detail…
While I was unresponsive, I remember walking into a room with a bright gold light shining up from the ground. The ground was fully covered with white fluffy clouds in solid white, the brightest white I had ever seen. The room was called “the throne room.” I saw a throne and could feel Jesus but didn’t see him. I looked around and then saw Jesus standing at the foot of my bed back in my hospital room. He was standing beside my husband who was holding our newborn baby girl and he said to me “This is why I died on the cross.” He then smiled at me and said “It’s not time, you are not done” and then I woke up and opened my eyes.
I know this may seem like a lot to understand or to read but I feel this testimony needs to be shared with others.
Before having a baby I knew that time is so valuable and fragile but after this near death experience, it’s truly opened my eyes to how valuable our time is here on Earth. Time is a gift to cherish and I whole heartedly cherish every second of every day that I get to spend with my daughter, my husband, and my family. I thank God every single day for dying on the cross to save me, for allowing me to be Aurora’s mother, and to be here on Earth to raise her.
With all of that being said, I have made the ultimate decision (with many tears, prayers, and love) not to continue my business any longer. I’ve spent the last 8 years celebrating with so many wonderful families. Now it is time for me to close this chapter and season of my life while opening a new one. I feel it right in my heart to fully dedicate my time to my family and to my daughter. Each day is a blessing and I will never take time for granted any longer!
THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful experiences, precious moments, and lifelong memories that the past 8 years have brought me. They will always be cherished in my heart! I humbly say thank you to all our wonderful customers and to our community! You have made my dreams come true for 8 years now and I can’t wait to instill my creativity into my daughter and inspire her to fulfill dreams.
Here are just a few memories from the past 8 years but we have so many!! As always, we love hearing your favorite memories with Princess Parties by Malinda!! Feel free to share them below!!! 💗
Many blessings to all of you and thank you for a wonderful journey! 💜
Malinda
