"Terrific" Twos!

Almost three years ago, (wow, how time flies), Phillip and I had made the decision to try having another child. Birthdays are important to us, because we feel so blessed to have one another to share this life with and feel there is cause for celebration of each person's special day. So, we were actually silly enough to try to plan out when the baby would be born...hopeful it would be during a time when there are no other family birthdays and no holidays...allowing us to focus on the birthday alone. Summer was the plan, so conceiving around the beginning of Fall seemed like a good idea. But, God had other plans...better plans...as always :)

It was July, and summertime was busy. I keep track of my "womanly stuff" so that I can discuss any ovarian issues that I might be having with my doctor, given that I had a lemon-sized cyst in my ovary at one time. But, I had forgotten to write it down in June, which left me guessing about July; and, July just flew right on by without me even thinking about it much. I started noticing little symptoms here and there...the tale tale signs of being preggo. And, when I went to check the calendar, it occurred to me that I could be wrong about the dates. Sure enough, when I took the pregnancy test, it revealed a big "yes"...took those two lines no time at all to appear.

We didn't tell anyone until after the first 12 weeks had passed. Then, we discussed it with Lalo a little bit, and allowed her to be the one to tell Mamaw and Nannie and Papaw over the phone..."Mommy has a baby in her tummy."

The big gender reveal was at 20 weeks. I wanted a boy for our first child. When it all boiled down to it, it really didn't matter as long as the child was healthy, but I was a little biased because I had two big sisters growing up, and we just fought all the time. Well, more like they tried to avoid me because I'm 7 years younger than one sister and 9 years younger than the other sister...I was the spoiled little baby in the family ;) So, I envisioned this perfect "big brother protective over big sister" relationship between my children. But, to have a chance at it to begin with, a boy needed to come first. Well, as you know, most things don't happen as you plan; so, we had a girl first. Which has turned out just fine, because Lalo is such a little "mother" to her little brother ;) Since we already had a little girl, it was for obvious reasons that we would probably hope for a little boy next. However, we had a LOT of little girl stuff (clothes, bedding, feeding stuff, room decor, blankets, etc.), which made us lean a little closer towards "girl". It seemed like it took forever for the ultrasound technician to find what she was looking for ;) I didn't think I could wait another minute when she said, "It's a boy." I'll never forget the excitement that flew all over my body...girl stuff or not, I got my little boy :)

I don't even remember much about the pregnancy until the last few months, except for maybe the baby moving...probably the thing I will miss the most about growing a little baby in my womb...there's nothing like feeling a little baby move :) The last few months, I was miserable...much more miserable than when pregnant with Lalo. We even bought a new mattress for our bed to see if it would help me get comfortable enough to sleep...lol. And, in the last couple of weeks, if that doctor told me there was "no progression" one more time, I feared there was going to be a doctor-shaped hole in the wall of the exam room...lol. But, I spared him, because it wasn't his fault after all. Our little boy was just as comfy as could be in his Mommy's womb, and he was going to come out when he was good and ready. Little did he know, his Mommy was about to POP, so the doctor decided that we better not go over one week past my due date before trying to induce.

The morning of my induction, I was nervous...very nervous...what if the induction doesn't take, I have to have a C-section, Phillip has to go back to work, and there's no family around here to help me care for Lalo while on the mend?? Lots of praying! We arrived at the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, and they started the pitocin somewhere between 8:00am and 8:30am. Yeah, that pitocin stuff...I don't know what it's made of, but WOW the contractions! I remember the nurse coming in to check at one point and she said I was only 4 centimeters dilated and I knew I wasn't going to make it. Once the lady with the magic medicine arrived, it was probably only 30 minutes later that Bubby came into the world.

He was born at 10:34am, weighed 9 lbs, 4 oz (explains the discomfort...lol) and was 20 inches long. I remember one of the nurses coming in after the fact and saying, "I didn't want to say anything before you had him, but when I looked at your belly, I thought to myself, 'that is going to be one big baby'."

And, I can't believe I'm writing about his 2nd birthday already! Where does the time go? He's such a challenge at this age...we've definitely hit "terrific twos" ;) ...but, at the same time, I wish we could slow down a bit.

Happy Birthday Bubby!