in approximately 6.5 hours from now, Blake will be officially 3. I must admit, I am a little sad. He is growing up so fast, sometimes I just wish we could push a pause button and stay for a little while. Tonight my mom read me her notes from the night Blake was born. What better time to reflect on that night than each year on the anniversary of that very special day. Let's take stroll down memory lane...
We had been at dinner with friends that night. My lower back pain was pretty intense, but it had been for weeks. My cousin Lori had sweetly worked on my back before dinner and I was feeling much better. We were going to stop at my parents on the way home to sit in the hot tub, but we had stayed too late at Missy & Jason's. On the way home Jeff asked me if I wanted him to take the bumpy way home in hopes that I might go into labor. I asked him not to... the last thing I wanted was to have a baby that night - I was so tired!
We got home around 11:00, put Avery to bed and we each got in bed and started to read. After a few minutes I felt a strong snap and Jeff heard it. He looked at me and said, "Your water broke, didn't it?" No way, I thought. He laughed and said that he would get me a towel. Sure enough, when I stood up it started to leak out.
I called my parents to let them know and Jeff got back in bed and started reading his book again! That cracked me up! About 30 minutes later I called my Mom to tell her that the contractions were 4 minutes apart and she sent my Dad over to stay with Avery.
After my Dad arrived we headed to the hospital and my Mom and Tammie met us there. Once we arrived it is pretty blurry. I remember my mom asking me if I was in pain, right in the middle of a contraction. Tammie told her it was time for them to leave the room after that. :)
My labor progressed fairly quickly and by 4:10am I was ready to push. 15 minutes later at 4:25am on October 19th, 2008 Blake was born. He was very blue from having the cord wrapped around his neck. When he was only half way out Dr. Dahle was already suctioning him and trying to get him breathing. I just remember staring at him and willing him to cry. And then, that big lip stuck out and he started to wail. We all laughed, and on the other side of the wall my mom and Tammie cried for me. So glad that it was over.
Blake was no small baby. He was 9 days early and weighed 8lbs 7oz and was 20.5 inches long with a huge barrel chest. And a lip that stuck out a mile :)
Today, Blake is a wonderful boy. He is so empathetic. It destroys him if he gets in trouble and he cries so hard you end up loving on him while you put him in time out. He will tell on himself if he does something wrong, and most of the time, if his sister cries, he will cry out of sympathy for her. He is very liberal with his affection and will tell me numerous times each day that he loves me and daddy and sister. He adores the movie Cars and anything Lightening McQueen or "Light Buzzyear". I am so proud of the little boy he is becoming and I look forward to watching him grow. But some days I just want to hit pause and soak it up a little more.
