Note: I started this on 7/31. Today, 8/4, is his 5th day.
To my dear, sweet baby boy,
You totally and completely surprised your Daddy and me by deciding you’d like to enter the world today instead of on your due date, which is 27 days away. On Friday night, July 30th, 2010, your dad and I (and you, in my belly) went out for Thai food with our friends. By 11:00, I was upstairs folding laundry and talking to your Aunt Lisa on the phone. 4 minutes later, I found myself telling Lisa I had to go call the doctor, because “either I just peed my pants or my water just broke.”
Your daddy was convinced it was the former. I was convinced otherwise. Guess who was right?
I will spare you most of the details of your birth, but I will tell you that the experience of pushing you out of my body was the wildest, most surreal, and most amazing thing I have ever done or will ever do. Labor started out rough, but once we finally got into a Labor & Delivery room (and I got my blessed epidural), it was a pretty fantastic experience. Your arrival was assisted by your dad and three women (2 nurses and a midwife) that I had never met but instantly loved,to the point that I told them my experience felt like we were in The Red Tent, but with one boy in the room (and modern medicine)(I doubt you’ll ever read that book, as it is a more girly one than not, but who knows?).
After the umbilical cord that physically connected us over the past 36 and a half weeks was cut, the midwife placed you on my bare chest to warm you up. When I looked over at your dad, the tears streaming down his face matched my own – and let me tell you, he didn’t even cry at his own dad’s funeral (that’s a story for another day, though, little man).
You are, without a single doubt, the most marvelous person I have ever met. At less than 24 hours old, you already have a personality. You came out of the womb with your fist under your chin, like you were intently thinking about something (by the way,thanks for that elbow-in-the-perineum. Lucky for you, you’re too fabulous not to forgive. Just don’t resent me if you never have a sibling due to my fear of future baby-making activities with your dad)).
. We saw you in this pose on the ultrasound, and you do it a lot in your sleep or when you are nursing. You have beautiful, curious eyes. You have a healthy set of lungs, although you don’t tend to use them without good reason. You are a snuggle-bug, and when I see you cuddling with your Daddy, I’m amazed by how tiny you are. Your dad and I are prone to talking about how much we love you and how we can’t imagine NOT having you. It’s like you were part of our family long before you even existed.
I love you, little man.
