Monday, July 30, 2007

one

Baby b. turned one on Saturday. We celebrated with a trip to the children’s museum and messy cupcakes.

I cannot believe he’s already one. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago I was as big as a house, waddling around our house trying to imagine myself as the Mother of three boys. The day he was born, I woke up early and knew—today’s the day. (I’ll spare you all the details of how, exactly, I knew!)

As I labored quietly all day, I played game after game of UNO with the noisy boys. I was excited, scared, and a little bit sad. After all, it wouldn’t just be the three of us anymore, and I didn’t know how it would all work. As we played games, I tried to fill them up with enough of me to last the few days I’d be gone, and tried not the think of the millions of things that can go wrong in childbirth.

We invited my husband’s parents over for dinner, since I knew that at some point, we’d need to leave. I made dinner at 5 o’clock, then went upstairs to lie down. I didn’t know if it was time to go to the hospital or not. I didn’t want to go too early, since I was doing a VBAC. I prayed to know the right timing, since I also didn’t want to give birth at home. Shortly after this prayer, my water broke.

Baby b. was born just two hours later. The delivery was so smooth, it kind of freaked us out. When the nurse handed us our boy and said, “Have a good night,” we just stared at eachother in disbelief. That’s it? And now we have a baby? And you’re actually leaving him here with us? We were on cloud nine.

And in some ways, we still are. Baby b. is a gift from God. He is the happiest baby I have ever met, and fits into our family beautifully. I cannot image life without him.

Happy birthday, littlest one! You are a joy.

15 comments:

Lara said...

Beautifully said. I have tears in my eyes now. Happy belated birthday to Baby B!

L.L. Barkat said...

Isn't it amazing how we can't imagine life with them, can't see how our love could grow beyond its present bounds, then, here they come... and we cannot imagine life without them.

Kris said...

Our number 3 is the same way..he seems to know that he's got to be happy;) or else!! Kids are such a joy!
K

Llama Momma said...

AMM -- thank you!

LL -- Exactly.

Kris -- Amazing, isn't it, how God gives us just the right little person (or peoples) for our families! I look at all of my boys and am amazed at how we all fit together.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

lorettaspeaks said...

What a great story. We had our first child 11 years into our marriage - a boy. My mom said "What in the world are we going to do with a boy?" I told her I had no idea. But we've been haing a blast ever since.

The Queen of Sci Fi said...

My little one turns one on Friday! My labor was not as easy as yours - but I certainly agree about the joy part. I'll post the story this week to celebrate!

Llama Momma said...

Loretta -- thanks for stopping by!

maria -- did I say easy? Smooth, yes. Easy? Is it every truly easy? ;-) By comparison, though, I suppose it was easy. The easiest of my three, anyway. (By a mile!)

Andrea said...

happy birthday little "one"!! I love the first BD, because the memory of their birth is still so clear!!

FrazzMom said...

I can't believe that B is one already! And the noisy boys are starting kindergarten this year!

Other people's children grow way to fast... (Mine, on the other hand, will probably never grow up and move out!)

Give all your boys a hug and a kiss from me and tell them the rat says "hi"!

spaghettipie said...

Happy Birthday, Baby B!
Sounds like you had a sweet time of reflection. What a gift this post will be to him when he's older!

Llama Momma said...

andrea -- I agree! And even when the birth is far from ideal -- like the twins' was -- it is good to look back and remember God's faithfulness to us.

Frazzmom -- I know. And I can't believe your babies are teenagers. I really can't get my head around it. I still remember the piles of laundry at your house. I didn't really understand...but that was before I had kids...

SP -- I've been thinking about printing out the stories about the kids and putting them in binders for the boys to read as they get older. The thought serves as an editor of my writing too, as I never want to emberass the boys through this blog, or any other writing I do.

Anonymous said...

LM -- What a beautiful recollection. I'm sure someday your little one will love to hear this story. And I'll bet those precious twins are now interested in the story of their own birth. (They always seem so curious!) I'm so glad that this birthday was so special.

Llama Momma said...

Charity -- The twins are sort of interested in their birth story...but only the bits that are actually about them! Ah, so you laid in a hospital bed for six weeks and one day with no shower so that we would live...where's the picture of ME??? ;-)

The Gatekeeper said...

Oh, what a wonderful blog you have here. Welcome to the world, Baby B. Sounds like the Lord picked a wonderful family for you. Thanks Llama Momma for stopping by my Momma's blog in 1942. And thank you for the encouragement. Have a blessed time with your boys.

I had to chuckle at your last comment btw, to Charity.

Llama Momma said...

Thank you for stopping by, gatekeeper!

Keep writing those stories down. And for comment lurkers, check out the gatekeeper's blog at: http://1942blog.blogspot.com/

It's worth reading.