This Time Six Years Ago...

I had been a mother for about 7 hours.

Bo loves to hear about when he was born and when he was a baby.

I never tire of telling him about it.

After yesterday's post I got an email from my mom, noting that I hadn't subjected you to the more gory details of my delivery.

Truth is, that stuff didn't happen until today.

So here it is...

Just kidding.

Suffice it to say, it was a very difficult delivery, Bo was over 9 pounds, I was as yet unfamiliar with the art of getting a camel through the eye of a needle. That's what that means, right?

My doctor, bless her sweet heart was very worried and really wanted me to get a c-section but I made her promise beforehand that she would do everything she possibly could to avoid it. Both my sisters had very difficult first deliveries, so we were prepared for it to go that way.

At one point I was pulling on a towel to help with the pushing, there were about 9 people all standing around me, half of them yelling at me to push, push harder, give it all I had, you simply have to do better than that, etc.

Then this tiny little slip of a nurse climbed up on my bed, on her knees and pressed down on me and literally pushed Bo out.

I had checked out and gone to my special place where people were telling me I was so pretty and could they please get me some more chocolate dipped strawberries? I barely noticed the nurse, and since everything was so chaotic, the addition of this unconventional method of getting a baby out, was barely noticed.

I didn't know I was done. I heard J cry out, "That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

I heard someone say, "You're done, Nobody, he's out!"

I pulled myself up on my elbows and looked across the room to see this gigantic baby laying on a table, flailing his appendages around, not making a sound.

He was huge and I was sure my perspective was skewed so I didn't say anything at first.

My mom, was sitting in stunned silence, unwilling or unable to move, I'm not sure.

I said, "He looks so big!" My doctor said he was the biggest baby she'd delivered in her private practice (she was 29 at the time) and my mom said, "That's the biggest baby a Smith girl has delivered!

It struck me how she seemed to say that with pride. All I could think was, "Why did I have to earn that award?"

Bo didn't cry. He was just sweet and content.

Still is.

It's amazing to me that six years later I can still look across the room at him and be overcome with joy and pride. That he's mine. That we did that. That he came to us. That our hearts were every complete before he came.

Before we had Bo, I learned that J was a little nervous around newborns, particularly small ones. This kind of worried me. I imagined him skillfully avoiding Bo until he was well into his second year of life.

The nurses bundled up Bo and J tucked him into his arms and was completely at ease.

Second only to holding him in my own arms, I loved to see Bo nestled in J's arms.

About 40 minutes after he was born, it was a little after 3 am. The nurse suggested that J go get me some fresh fruit before the cafeteria closed. In this hospital, you had to go through the garage from where we were, to get to the cafeteria.

I was busy getting "mended" and J, being the good and attentive husband and father, carefully tucked Bo into one arm, waved to me and said, "I'll be back with some food!"

The nurse jumped up and said, "You can't take the baby with you!"

And then sat down and laughed until she cried. It of course didn't occur to either of us that perhaps our 40 minute old newborn shouldn't be hauled through a parking garage and off to a cafeteria, with a one-armed hold.

J has been a better father than I ever could have dreamed for my children, and Bo has been all a mother could ever hope for in a child. And both have had six years to prove it over and over.

Happy Birthday Bo. To know, know, know, you is to love, love, love you. Just to see your smile, makes my life worthwhile....