18 months old

Today my son has been alive for as much time outside of my stomach as he was inside of my stomach. The past 18 months have been life changing for Matt and I. I praise the Lord for his work in our family's life! On Father's day 2006 we found out that we were going to be parents! It was an exciting day because we didn't know if we would be able to conceive children because of past medical procedures. I woke Matt up at 3:30a.m. to tell him I was pregnant after taking a test, we then drove to Walmart at 4:00a.m. to buy another test to be sure. My pregnancy (although filled with a trip to the hospital in the beginning, gestational diabetes, and finding out I had a blod clotting disorder) was a GREAT one! I LOVED being pregnant. Praise the Lord for creating our bodies in ways that we can feel our precious baby growing inside us before they ever come into our world. The little hiccups and the not-so-little kicks are amazing! I could tell early on that my boy was going to be strong and big. He always measured 3-4 weeks bigger than he was supposed to be in my stomach. A blessing in disguise was that due to my blod clotting disorder, I had to have ultra sounds monthly to make sure a clot was not in the placenta or the umbilical cord. I LOVED having this because we got to see him grow every month! We were happy to find out that we were having a boy.

The day Ethan was born was unexpected. Because of his large size my doctor's highly recommended that I have a C-section. So we scheduled a c-section for the 19th of February although his due date was the 24th. I went in for a check up on Friday the 16th and found out I was in "labor". Because I had braxton hicks contractions so frequently, I didn't think anything of the contractions that were being read on the screen. The Dr. informed me that I was having contractions every 6 minutes and she wanted to check my cervix. Lo' and behold I was 4 centimeters dialated and had no clue! I was sent immediately to labor and delivery. I called my husband who was at work to tell him I was in labor. He thought I was joking, but after repeating it again, he knew I was serious! I LOVED hearing the excitement in his voice! Today was the day we would be meeting our baby boy! He made it to the hospital in record timing. I was sent to the triage like area. Apparently everybody picked that day to have a baby because the hospital was SO busy they were delivering babies in the pediatrics ward and even some ICU rooms! I went in at 11:30a.m.. Family came to the hospital waiting in excitement! I remember hearing the poor girl next to me who was yelling during contractions. I remember laughing in my heart and praising God that I wasn't going through that! We found out that they were going to be performing my c-section around 4:30p.m.. Because the hospital was so busy they didn't have a room for me, so they were waiting for some to clear out. I didn't mind. The afternoon quickly went by and they came to prepare me for surgery. Matt walked along my bedside until we entered the operating room. I remember laying there and them walking me through hallways and hallways feeling like we were going to a secret room or something. It seemed like it took forever, as soon as we got to the door, I kissed Matt goodbye. The doctors wanted to get me stabilized and get my spinal block done and the curtain up before Matt could come sit by me. As soon as I was rolled through the door, I remember the cool air hitting me. I felt like I was in a movie where I was greeted by like 8 people, I could only see their eyes because of the operating masks. I loved seeing their eyes smiling. I felt like mine was the first baby they were ever going to deliver because they just all had a happy demeanor. I got my spinal block and immediately my legs went numb. They laid me out on the table and I could feel them move my legs and cover me in blankets. As soon as they got me stabilized I heard them tell Matt it was ok to come in. He sat by my head and held my hand. It was strange to feel all sorts of tugging and hearing certain sounds, but not feeling the pain at all. They told me that I might feel some pressure and before I could even think about it, they had brought my sweet precious baby into this world. I heard suctioning and then a loud cry! Here was our 9 lb 5 oz, 21 inch long baby! Matt and I just looked at each other, told each other we loved each other and the tears began to flow from both of us! Matt got to take Ethan and hold him up to me. I barely got to see him before they wanted to carry him to the nursery. Later I found out that he was having some hard time breathing although his apgar score was a 9! Matt kissed me and left the room while they sewed me up. It all happened so fast! Now I was officially a mommy and I remember excitement and nervousness sweeping over my heart!

It took me and Ethan a while to recover. Because he was in a body that had high blood sugar a lot, he was dependant on me. When he was born his blood sugar dropped and he needed to be fed a few bottles of the glucose water. My legs weren't regaining feeling as fast as was expected so although he was born at 5:10p.m, I did not get to hold or see him until around 9:30 that night. I kept telling Matt that I wanted to be the first to hold him. The family got to watch Ethan being washed and fed the glucose bottles. We knew he was going to have a content personality when he didn't scream and cry during or after his bath. My heart skipped a beat when I heard the door open and they rolled my sweet baby into the room. He was swaddled in a baby blanket and had a yellow warm baby cap on. Here was the pride and joy of our hearts!

The next 2 days seemed to go by quickly. My recovery room was on the pediatric floor because the maternity ward was full. I was up and walking the next day which truly helped with my recovery. We even left the hospital a day earlier than expected because we were ready to get home with our son! I remember sitting in the backseat and holding onto his carseat like a hawk protecting her babies. Matt has never gone the speed limit until that day, ha ha! We had precious cargo to care for!!! Life hasn't been the same since that day! I just never fully realized how much I could love someone the way I do when I look at him. Matt and I are so proud of our baby boy! He is such a happy and sweet little guy. There's so much I could say about Ethan. My mind just can't even grasp the fact that if I love this little person SO much, how much MORE does the God of this universe love us?! Having a child is a blessing and I pray that Matt and I would raise him up knowing and learning about the God who loves us. Happy 9 months, son! I pray and hope that I will get to experience this feeling again...but maybe in a few years ;)