Before Mommy’s brain is completely surrendered to motherhood, I want to write down your story – the story of how you came to be. It’s a long story (even longer than what I’m writing here), but it’s a good story, nay, a great story. You see, it took 6 months for me to get pregnant, but you were not late. You were right on time – God’s time. When we found out we were pregnant with you, it was one of the scariest and most exciting times in mine and Daddy’s life. I took a pregnancy test around 6:00am, and said some bad words when the test came back positive (not because you were bad, but because Mommy was surprised…VERY surprised. I had taken a test a week before and it was negative, so this was a HUGE deal.) I ran into the bedroom and woke Daddy up by waving the test in his face, and we both laughed and cried and prayed. I remember calling into work, because I couldn’t even think straight enough to work, and we were leaving for Chicago that day to see your Nana and Grandpa. I took a picture of the test on my phone and sent it to your Aunt Lou – her and Uncle Tao were SO happy because they were waiting on your cousin Gabe at the same time! We also told your Aunt Chris & Uncle Mike because they were waiting on your cousin Madeline – I know, crazy, right? We didn’t tell anyone else until we saw your Nana & Grandpa (and Uncle Jim, Aunt Kari and Uncle Ken) that night. We took a picture of the test with our camera, and while showing pictures to Nana, she saw that picture and realized what was going on. Everyone was so happy, but nervous – it was really early to know about you, and we just prayed that everything would turn out okay. I went to the doctor that next week, and although they couldn’t see you yet, they were confident that everything would be alright, even if Mommy was freaking out. We waited another week, and when we went back to the doctor, we saw your heart beating on the big screen and it was one of the best moments of our lives. We told Grandma about you too, of course – we had her come over and gave her a set of bottles to tell her we were expecting you. She was so excited! Everyone was excited, kid – they couldn’t wait to meet you, and neither could we. But we had to wait – it takes almost 10 months for a baby to be borned! :)
You were a great baby from the beginning, buddy. My pregnancy was one of the best times of my life, and my heart and mind were changing for the better even before you arrived. You were an answer to prayer in so many ways – you didn’t make me sick (thank you for that) and even though we had our trials while you were cooking (including moving, your Daddy’s brain tumor/surgery, gestational diabetes, etc.), and some great times (Ellie Camara was born, Gabe was born, Madeline was born, Mommy coordinated her second wedding, etc.) overall I had a wonderful pregnancy. We took classes, got our apartment as ready as it was going to be, received a ton of gifts that you wouldn’t really care about for a while, and waited. It seemed like we waited forever, but the time finally came for you to appear. You didn’t really want to come out – we waited as long as we could, but eventually, the doctor had to help you. Mommy had decided she didn’t want to use drugs while you were making your way into the world, but as you will learn, not everything works out the way you plan.
We went into the hospital on Thursday, March 31st. Dr. McKenzie started me on Cervadil to see if we could get you to start the process. That’s when labor first started, even though I had been having contractions for a few weeks on and off. So starting around 7:00pm, the experience of a lifetime began. I labored all night, but nothing was strong enough to push you. Then Dr. Campbell started Petocin the next morning around 7:00, and I was in pain ALL DAY. I kept trying to tell myself that it was all going to be worth it – that your life was so much more important then the pain I was in. I tried a lot of things that day to keep my mind off the pain and to push you to come out. I had made a whole playlist of music to help me. I rocked in a chair. I walked around. I tried to sleep. I yelled at Daddy, Aunt Lou, Grandma, Nana & Grandpa (yep, they were there too!) I cried. I was so hungry because I couldn’t eat anything – can you imagine that? Not being able to eat? It was bad. The pain kept getting worse, and around 8:00 that night, I finally asked the doctor to give me an epidural. It was one of the hardest decisions I had ever made because as you will continue to learn, Mommy is a stubborn person, and to change my mind about how I wanted to deliver you was tough. Unfortunately, the epidural pretty much stopped our progress. You and I were both tired from the hours and hours of labor, and even though the nurses tried to get the contractions back to the point where you would come out, it didn’t work.
The doctor came in and said we would have to do an emergency c-section because your heart rate was starting to dip, and they didn’t want anything to happen to either of us. I cried, Daddy cried, everyone who loved you cried because even though we knew God was going to take care of us, it was still scary. So the doctor gave me some stuff to REALLY stop the pain and numb me, I got sick, passed out a couple times, and even though I couldn't act like it because of the medicine, I knew exactly what was going on in my mind. I knew that regardless of how crazy those moments were, you were going to be here. I was going to get to hold you, touch you, kiss you, say hello to you, see your face…be with the one I had waited so long for. The c-section only took about 20 minutes, so after around 28 hours of labor, at 11:25pm, you were born. Daddy and I had decided that Daddy would get to name you – we had three names picked out (Isaac Nathaniel, Noah James and Ethan Daniel), and he was going to get to pick one. As soon as you were out of my belly, Daddy picked Isaac Nathaniel. You were so alert – you didn’t cry much, even when you were poked and prodded, and you were so beautiful. Your name was and is very appropriate – you were born on April 1st, commonly known as April Fools’ Day, and your name means Laughter, God’s gift. And that’s what you are, babe – you are a gift. You are the best thing to ever happen to me, besides meeting Jesus and marrying your Daddy. I now know what it means to keep my heart outside my body, because you have it. You have been a pleasure thus far, and even though we have had and will continue to have our hard times, you are such a blessing to us, and to everyone who meets you. You have a lot of people who love you, Isaac – don’t you ever forget it. You are our son, but you have been dedicated to God, and our prayer is that you give yourself to Him early. We love you more than you will ever know.
Love always,
Mommy
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