My best creation to date

The official b-day pic

Sunday was a big milestone in our house--Little Man turned two.  And since I've never actually recounted any of the story of his birth (not even in a baby book I'm a bit ashamed to admit), I figured I'd do it now.  He deserves it!

My due date was January 13th--a Friday, which really made your Grampa nervous.  I worked until you came, and was planning for the 13th to be my last day at work.  But you had other plans.

On January 11th, after a long day of some last-minute projects your father and I needed to get done (we were re-wiring the 3rd floor so Nana had a place to sleep when she came to visit), I finally made my way to bed around 1130pm while your father finally ate dinner and watched South Park downstairs before he came up.  I washed up, got changed, and I think I may have even laid out clothes for the next day at work (it's not hard when only about 3 things you own still fit).  I then went over to the bed, picked up my leg to get in, and...my water broke.

The three of us at our baby shower in Nov. 2011

At first I thought I peed myself, but I soon realized what was going on and called down to your father.  (p.s. thank Jeebus a co-worker had convinced me to sleep on a towel for the last week or I probably would have ruined our mattress). I asked him to meet me in the bathroom with my phone so I could call the doctor, and then sent him back downstairs to finish eating.  As suspected, the doctor on call told us to come in, but since I was pretty comfortable, I read the Farmer's Almanac until your father came back to check on me.

He may have fallen asleep on the couch (though he'll never admit to it) because I was in the bathroom for a WHILE, when I decided to call him to see what the deal was. Your father came upstairs, helped me get cleaned up, dressed, and packed (no I hadn't finished packing for myself though your bag was good to go), and off we went.  Since we wanted it to be only us at the hospital, we didn't call Nana or Gramma or Pap or Grampa--I sent a smiley text message to Aunt Manoshi and Auntie.

On the way to hospital, we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts--your father was in desperate need of caffeine and I knew they weren't going to let me eat once we checked in.  It was the most glorious egg and butter on an everything bagel sandwich I can remember, all washed down with a hot chocolate.  Oddly enough, once I started eating, I started feeling the contractions for the first time--nothing huge or painful yet but a bit uncomfortable.

When we finally got to the hospital around 2am, the duty nurse said she was just about to call me back--they thought something might have happened since we arrived more than two hours after my initial call...but we had to eat, right?

The labor nurse I started out with was not the most pleasant person in the world, and to be frank, I felt really pressured to start taking labor inducing and pain numbing medications--both of which I didn't want to start until I really had to.  The only response that seemed to quell the resident on duty was that I wanted to wait until my doctor came on to make any decisions.

Mommy was on vicodin

Daylight changes everything, including shifts at a hospital and the strength of contractions.  By the time my doctor got in, I was laboring moderately but apparently not making a lot of progress.  Since my water had been broken for about twelve hours, I decided to let them give me pitocin and demanded that they give me an epidural if they were going to give me pitocin.  It was pretty rough trying to manage staying still for the epidural during some strong contractions, but we did it. 

I 'm glad we did.  After the medicine kicked in, your father and I settled in, relaxed and watched Indiana Jones for a few hours.  The doctor even stopped by a few times to ask us where we were at in the movie--I guess he's a fan.

Just before two o'clock, the doctor and labor nurse, Ella (who happened to know a work friend of mine) told me it was time to start pushing, and push I did.  About twenty minutes later, you came into the world, all slimy and off-color, and fairly odd-looking.  But we were so relieved to finally meet you.

1 day old

We hadn't found out if you were a boy or girl before you were born, and frankly it didn't matter much once you were here.  It mattered so little in fact, that the doctor and nurses had to remind us to check!

You were born at 2:21 PM on Thursday Jan. 12, 2012 weighing in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19 inches long.  We named you Michael for your grandfathers (Pap and Grampa are both named Michael) and Michael Jacob for your  Grampa, Great Grampa, and Great-Great Grampa who are/were all MJ
Hamm.

You went home in a Flyers onesie, and watched your first Flyers game about 2 minutes after you got home.  The dogs (Pearl & Bob) were instantly taken with you.  The cat took a while to warm up, but now he's probably your best friend.

laurelharrishphotography.com

Happy birthday, buddy.