Little Buddy: 40 weeks!!

Today is Jack's due date - February 18th, 2013.  Little did we know, when we had our first ultrasound some time last June, just how wrong that estimated due date would prove to be.  And little did we know little buddy would be born in January instead of February.  However, as you all know Jack has been outside of my womb for six weeks now - six glorious and extremely eventful weeks! You can read about his birth story here and here. 

When we first found out we were having a baby, we had all sorts of hopes and dreams for the pregnancy and for Jack's birth story.  I mean that's all they really are right...hopes and dreams, considering you can't really make too many plans.  I dare you to ask any mom and dad about the birth of their children...did it go according to THEIR plan?  Or maybe they didn't have a plan??  Those are the smart ones!  But I'm sure they had hopes and dreams...ask them about their hopes and dreams...did those differ from the actual experience?  I imagine most of them will say YES!

And as I said, we had all sorts of hopes and dreams.  However, as the weeks and months inched by we discovered many things...

ONE:  I wasn't as far along as I thought I would be at that first ultrasound (I was only 7 weeks instead of 9).
TWO:  We discovered our gut was right and we were having a BOY!!
THREE:  We discovered that I have high blood pressure (it's normal now, but pregnancy must have just kicked it up a notch).
FOUR:  Quite a few midwives won't work with you if you are high risk.
FIVE:  Baby wasn't growing as we had hoped he would be due to bp meds, and we wouldn't be going to Ireland for Christmas as we had planned since last March.
SIX:  We discovered that baby certainly would be coming early, mom would be hospitalized, as would baby, and baby would enter the world via a c-section a whole six weeks early.

I could go on and on with all the things we learned, but I won't bore you with that.  However, I will say that the day the baby arrives or even the days leading up to the baby's arrival (shout out to those who labor for days)...you begin to toss some of those hopes and dreams to the wind, and you begin to realize that the most important thing here is a healthy baby and a healthy mom.

And let me tell you, we definitely have a healthy, living, breathing baby!  And we truly can't imagine our lives without him in it.  There is so much proof of him in our home now, and I wonder what these past six weeks would have looked like if he wouldn't have arrived when he did.  Now, there are baby things in every corner.  There are baby blankets strewn on the chairs in the house, itty bitty clothes in the closet, bottles on the counter, breast milk in the fridge, a crib in the closet, baby clothes in the laundry basket, dirty diapers in the garbage, and a real live baby in front of me begging for my attention.

And I should probably mention that his lungs work...Thus, I think it's time I put away my computer and snuggle my beautiful, healthy, baby boy. 

Happy due date Jack!!  We love you so much!

Love,

Malia and Peter