I remember when...

Every year on my birthday Mom calls, sings Happy Birthday, and says "I remember when..." She then proceeds to tell me all about the day I was born. I expect it every year, and now it is my turn to "remember when."

Tomorrow is Dylan's 3rd birthday, and you know what --- I remember when! I remember the day he was born as if it were yesterday. It was one of the craziest days of my life. The day before he was born I was scheduled to bring dinner over to some friends who had just had a baby too. It was a Sunday and I wasn't feeling great, so I opted to stay home from church, rest a bit, and then head over to their house later that afternoon. Brian was away on business in San Francisco, and he wasn't scheduled to come home until later that night. I made dinner for my friends and then rested all day. Going into labor was the last thing on my mind since it was a full six weeks before my due date.

That afternoon while resting I started having contractions. I didn't think too much of it because they weren't painful at all and were very inconsistent. I loaded the food into the car and headed off to the Kelleys to drop it off. They lived a good 30-45 minutes away (remember we were in Houston back then and everything was about 30-45 minutes away... even if it were only 3 miles away!). While I was visiting with them, the contractions started to get stronger, and this got my attention --- something was definitely wrong here. I went home (another 30-45 minute drive) and called the midwife. She thought I was probably dehydrated and told me to go on to the hospital. After all, it was mid-August in Houston! Thankfully, Brian had just returned from the airport, so we jumped back in the car and drove another 30-45 minutes to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, a recliner fell out of the truck directly in front of us as we drove down Hwy 290. Somehow we missed hitting it and made it to the hospital safely. For whatever reason, that always sticks out in my mind!

Turns out I wasn't dehydrated at all, but was in full-blown labor. They tried hard to stop it, but God intended for Dylan to join our family that day. The hardest thing was leaving the hospital without him... seeing his tiny little body hooked up to so many monitors, IVs, feeding tubes, and not being able to hold him and feed him anytime we wanted. But that difficult week passed, and three years later, most people would never even guess he spent those first few days under such constant scrutiny.

So... Happy Birthday Dylan! We're so glad you're part of our little family.