Happy 16th

I woke up
and knew instantly
‘today is the day’!
~
It was Sunday
sixteen years ago, to be exact.
We decided to skip church
and went for a walk around Asbell Elemantary instead.
I called my midwife around noon
and told her she was officially ‘on call’.
~
We had a leisurely afternoon
with a few neighbor friends popping in and out.
Contractions continued to increase
in frequency
duration
and intensity.
A Bill Cosby tape was in the VCR.
for awhile
he was a humorous distraction.
then
he was not!
~
My mom started heading our way around 5 or 5:30;
I called Janessa back
and told her I was ready for her to come on over, too.
She arrived a few minutes before 6:00
and we headed to the bedroom for ‘the check’.
As usual, I wasn’t dilated past a 1.
Usual or not, it was still a bit discouraging.
She announced she was going to church.
You know
since I wasn’t doing much of anything.
I informed her
she was most definitely not going to church;
she was my midwife & I was ready for her to be with me.
She assured me that Kimberly,
her very sweet apprentice with a young baby of her own,
was on her way.
And she would be back in an hour.
My midwife then walked out the door
saying, “Nothing is going to happen in an hour!”
~
I kept moving from the tub to the toilet
then back to the tub again.
It’s so nice to labor in hot water!
(I would love to have a water birth, but alas, that will never happen.)
My water broke not long after my midwife left.
Then things really got intense!
I told Tyler there was no way I could do this for 8 more hours
(where I came up with 8 hours, I have no idea…)
I was going to have to go to the hospital.
I was already feeling like I had to push
But for goodness sake, I was only a 1,
so my mind and body must playing tricks on me….
My mom thought I needed to just get a grip
(fortunately, she told me that later, not right then :-)
so she took TJ & Lana to play outside.
Kimberly decided she would help me refocus
by checking me again…
She figured she’d be able to tell me I was at 3cm
or maybe even five!
I waddled to the bed
with Tyler’s help.
She took one look and said,
“We’re crowning!”
I’m not sure who was more shocked,
Kimberly
or
Me!
Here I thought I was just a wimp
and
I was in transition, and a fast one, at that!

~
Tony Michael
was born moments later
a few minutes past 7:00
as Janessa was walking back in the door.
Nothing’s gonna happen in an hour, huh?!

~
Tony has been an absolute delight!
He introduced us to the joys of co-sleeping
before we knew there was a name for it.
He’s a snappy dresser.

He is our resident comedian.
He loves the Lord
and
he loves all kinds of music.
He’s adventurous.

He’s a fantastic big brother
(a pretty good ‘little’ brother, too!)
and an excellent driver
with just the right mix of confidence and caution.

He loves animals.
He will make an excellent husband and father someday.
~
Tony
We love you and are so blessed to have you in our family!


Happy Birthday!