EIGHT

Exactly 8 years ago I woke up in the hospital after a night of monitoring 5 minute apart contractions with no progress (I should add here that sleeping pills and a 9 month pregnant woman do not go together, sure I needed the sleep... but a pregnant bladder never rests-it was not a good idea). I woke up to my Dr. coming in to check on another patient who was in active labor. The nurses had already told me that I was going home, and I was crying like a baby. I did not know if I could make it another day, I was miserable.

The Dr. came in and had pity on me, she told me that "since she had to be there anyway, and since I was 2 days past due (according to one of the doctors)", she would go ahead and induce. But, I had to promise not to call in any family until we started seeing progress. That was about 6AM. The rest was a blurr of unconsciousness and pain but after only about 30 minutes of pushing, Nicolas Baylor arrived into our world at 12:40 PM. My life changed forever. I was in shock for a long time. I just kept saying over and over, "This is my baby", "I had a baby". We were also in shock to discover that my first child weighed 9 lbs, 14 oz. I knew he was big because he had been cutting of most of my lower body for weeks, but I had no idea that he would be THAT big.
From the moment he entered the world, his life has been BIG. He is full force in whatever he does and never settles for anything less than his best. He really is a great kid, who knows how to turn on the charm. I have loved every minute of his precious life (okay I can count a few minutes that I might take back, but they were mostly my fault)and I thank God that He has given me the joy of raising him.