Moving On

Lots of memories come with this date. I wrote about the birth experience last year, so I won't again this year, but there are a few things I still vividly remember:

* David always being there, being so supportive and helpful.
* Being wheeled into my room after the C-section and seeing a sea of family.
* One of the doctor's commenting, "Were all those people here for you?" "Well, more the baby," I replied. She was shocked.
* The faces on my family when they told me how they found out he was a boy.
* Making a mental note to never find out the gender of our babies. Too much fun anticipating with everyone and finding out at the birth.
* Everyone commenting on his size (to which I added, "See, I knew he should have been born weeks ago...")
* It's no lie when I tell you that we had a steady stream of visitors the entire four days I was in the hospital. When one left, another came. It was fun and exhausting.
* Not believing that this little swaddled package was our responsiblity. Forever.
* Trying to get the hang of nursing. In hind sight, we caught on rather quickly. Which was good because that's all Micah seemed to do
* A nurse handing me Micah after he was cleaned up and telling me to try to get him to nurse 10 minutes on each side
* The expression on her face when I told her that he did. I should have known right then I was in for trouble!
* The nurse wheeling M into our room every 3 hours so I could nurse him
* D sharing my hospital bed until the first feeding
* Yummy hospital food
* Unwrapping M to see his [huge] little body
* The three of us snuggling together, amazed at how he was just inside me and now he was in our arms
* Pictures
* Mom always helping me. Everyone was so focused on the baby (rightly so!), but Mom made sure I was comfy, had what I needed, made sure D and I got some time together, the list goes on
* taking M home
* I didn't fill any pain medication prescriptions when I got home, so M didn't have any more in his body making him relaxed and groggy, thus experiencing an entirely different infant than in the hospital!
* Not a great sleeper, always eating, wanting to be held out, loving the outdoors, a toddler in an infant body...worth every second of it

I've said this from the beginning, but now I know it's true: Micah was born older than his physical age. He was very alert and in tune with what was going on around him, knew what he wanted, how he wanted it, and he wanted to be in control of his body so he could do what he needed to do. Obviously that doesn't happen until you progress through stages, so he was a tough baby. Keeping that in mind helped me handle him, though, that and unending support from family! He was born able to hold his head up and has progressed quickly through the various stages, both physically and mentally. I still say I don't know where he came from, but we are very blessed to have him here with us. He's a special little man and we always pray for wisdom in our journey through this life with him. Thank you to everyone who has been such a support and encouragement to us throughout this year. And for everyone who has chosen to be such a big part of Micah's life. It takes a lot of time and effort and it's very much noticed and appreciated. Maybe he doesn't know it yet, but he's part of the best family I know. We love you!