Eight years old...II Kings 22:1

Happy 8th Birthday, S!

8 years ago this morning I woke up with a familiar feeling. I had felt the same way 4 days previously on Tuesday, The Man's birthday. I was sure you, S, would share a birthday with your daddy, but it turns out I had a case of the stomach flu...The Man had it too, so we were pretty sure it wasn't labor. I laid around for a few days surviving on nothing but Saltines and Gatorade. By Friday morning I was feeling better and went to my last visit with the midwife at Kaiser. We had switched to Kaiser insurance after J was born, so we were somewhat limited in our hospital/provider choices.

The midwife said everything looked great, except for my weight loss due to the special diet I'd been on that week. She even mentioned that she would be in the hospital that night, so I was welcome to come on in and have the baby. We still weren't sure which hospital we wanted to use. We had 2 Kaiser hospitals about the same distance from our home. One had a brand new L & D with great rooms. The other wasn't as nice, but it had my really nice midwife. And then there was the fact that they were both quite a distance from our home.

In rush hour traffic, it could take up to 45 minutes to get to either hospital from our house. Since we only had one vehicle at that time that The Man used to get to classes 20 minutes from our house, it could take about an hour to get to a hospital if he happened to be away from home when I went into labor. We decided it would be a good idea to be prepared in case we didn't wish to try to rush off to a hospital.

After my appointment with the midwife on Friday morning, I wandered all over the Kaiser complex trying to find the right person to give me the right forms to get J's hospital and ambulance bills paid from an out-of-state visit the prior month. The ambulance company was getting understandably cranky and Kaiser was not paying the bills or mailing me the forms. When that was taken care of we drove to Wal-Mart where I once again did some walk :: ouch :: ing to get some things we :: ouch :: needed.

We finally arrived back home and I rested the remainder of the day. I was still pretty weak from my recent illness. When I woke up early on Saturday morning, I was sure I was having a relapse. It was the same queasy feeling. I tried to relax and go back to sleep. It didn't work.

After an hour or so I figured out that I was actually in labor. I woke The Man up and informed him of the developments. He got up and decided that yes, I was probably in labor. He made a few phone calls and took M & J to some friends that lived around the corner from us. It was only a five minute drive...

During those five minutes I discovered that my contractions were a lot more comfortable if I pushed through them. The Man wasn't thrilled when he arrived back home less than 10 minutes later to find me pushing. "It's too soon! You're not ready!"

Yes, I was. We quickly decided that a homebirth was preferable to a carbirth somewhere along the 10 freeway. Less than an hour later you arrived. The Man went and got the big boys to meet their new little brother. A few hours later I sent them off to Sabbath School and Church while you and I stayed in bed and rested. I am glad he called between Sabbath School and Church to check up on us. I was in the middle of a crisis. I couldn't find where Daddy had put the diapers, and you were in need of your first diaper change.

Here you are, just a few days old (Notice the empty Gatorade bottle). Daddy put you in the bouncy seat on the kitchen floor. J is sitting there "reading" to you from a board book. This morning, eight years later, you and J were sitting in the rocking chair together as he was really reading to you from one of the new books you got for your birthday.
You were 7 weeks old for your first Christmas. All of you enjoyed wearing Great-Grandpa's Santa hats.
S asked for a banana cake with whipped topping and fruit for his birthday this morning. We had it for breakfast. "It was yummy," says S.

He got a tool box of his very own with lots of tools. He made a mailbox to put Mommy and Daddy's cards in, so The Man creatively wrapped each tool (including a box of Curious George band-aids) and put them in the mailbox. He loved all the gifts he received.
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Ahem...Yes, this post WAS written on November 6. Today is December 6. What can I say? As usual, it has been a b-u-s-y month. More on that later.
I love you, S...even though I was late publishing your birthday post! Happy 8 1/12 birthday!