My Baby Turns Six

A review of what happened six years ago today:

I went into labor at 3am.

By 5:30am we called my midwife.

We took our time getting to the hospital.

(We stopped off for coffee and a little shopping on the way.)

I got to the hospital at 7:30am.

My midwife was not happy with our tardiness.

(In our defense, the previous 3 labors had been the slowest labors known to man...er, I mean woman.)

I was dilated 6 1/2 cm when I got there.

(Total shock to us, because I honestly didn't believe it was the real thing.  This baby was 'early' according to my previous track record.)

I walked, joked, talked and slept.

Only to be rudely awoken at 1:00pm to the command "Time to push."

Baby must have known he was being easy on me with the labor part, because he decided to go sunny side up for the pushing part.

A very intense 10 minute birthing experience.

And then wha-la.

A beautiful 8 pound 7oz baby boy!!

What a blessing!

A seemingly smooth birthing process turned:

Matt went outside to make all the phone calls: the proud announcement of our fourth child's birth.

Meanwhile back in the hospital, our baby had stopped breathing.  Twice.

Both times he was resucitated.

Thank you God!!

Then I hemorraged.

An hour and a half later they got control of it.

 I was on the verge of a blood transfusion.

And then finally, all the excitement was over.

The bleeding had stopped and our son was breathing.

Again, thank you God!!

In all the excitement and chaos,

Matt was not informed of what was going on.

He was thankfully spared the fear and stress of the moment.

Five days later our baby boy was in the NICU.

His bilirubin counts were dangerously high.  

Just one point shy of brain damage.

He spent a couple days getting phototherapy,

And then was discharged.

He had many more challenges in the months to come.

But he overcame them all.

Six years later:

We are immensely blessed by our son.

We couldn't imagine life without him.

His laugh.

His teasing.

His shyness.

His strength.

His bravery.

His sweet voice (& his guttural voice).

His smile.

<<LOVE>>

We have been given a great blessing.

God has something very special planned for this little guy.

And I can't wait to see what it is!

(We mostly celebrated his birthday yesterday.  Matt had the day off of work.)

January 10th

A birthday tradition: Donut Joes

We mentioned it was his birthday and he got a donut for free.

Just take the picture mom!  I'm hungry!

Another birthday tradition:  Parking on the top deck of the McWane Science Center

Look Ma!  No hands!!

They played Dodgeball for what seemed to be Forever!

He loves to play with trains.

Matt & I finally talked them into going down to the lower level.

Best buds

What it feels like to be in a hurricane

Playing with Daddy

Many giggles came from jumping around in this room

It's fuzzy, but we had to document it being 70 degrees on his birthday.  He was born in a snowy snowy world in NYS.

Lunch choice: Dominoes!

My little baker ready to help me bake his cake

Adding the ingredients

And of course licking the beaters!!

A Phineas & Ferb cake - The tip broke when I was writing his name, but we knew whose birthday it was.

"Happy Birthday to You" and blowing out candles

Chocolate cake with Mint Moose Tracks ice cream.  Yum!

He wanted to play Sorry with the family.  I was on his team.  We lost. :/

 January 11th

He crawled into bed with me this morning.  Love my cuddle bug!

As per his request: Pancakes, Sausage & OJ

Enough pictures already Mom!  Let's just eat!!

Although his first year book isn't printed up yet . . . I did find it on our old computer and we looked through it together.

His brother got him a Tails figurine from Sonic the Hedgehog

He got a new bike.  His old one was VERY well loved and needed replaced.

He got a plush Tails

Opening a gift from his sister

A froggy!  She knows him so well.

A Yoshi K'nex

Waiting for the heavy rain to stop.  He would sit there for over an hour.  Then he gave up.

His sister made a birthday card for him

The rain let up!!  Let's ride!

And of course, Friday night is homemade pizza night.

 What a great last couple days we've had celebrating!

So thankful for him!!