Two years ago...

Two years ago today, I woke in the wee small hours of the morning with some painful cramping. I'd had my cerclage removed the day before and was taken off of bedrest. However, I'd been cautioned that it's rare to go into spontaneous labor immediately following a cerclage removal, so I brushed off the cramps as nothing more than Braxton-Hicks.

Throughout the day I continued to have these cramps, and though they became more frequent and stronger with each passing hour, I vehemently insisted to anyone who dared suggest otherwise that I was not having contractions! Scott calmly stated that even though these were not contractions and I was clearly not in labor, he was going to stay home from work--just in case. I stomped around all day, franticly and obsessively cleaning and organizing the house. Every time a cramp hit me, I would double over out of breath.

Scott had tennis that evening, and we still didn't have a crib, so we decided that I'd go watch him play tennis, and afterward we'd run to Babies R Us to choose a crib. But on the way to tennis, Scott kindly suggested I time these not-contractions I'd been having all day, and we discovered that they were five minutes apart. Scott made a quick phone call to the tennis club and we drove straight the hospital instead.

The next day--almost twelve hours later--just as the sun was rising, our six pound, fourteen ounce little blessing made his entrance. He squawked once, then proceeded to look around the room wide-eyed. I remember asking the nurse if my baby was okay, because he was so quiet. But he was just taking things in--figuring out this strange new place.

His birth happened so quickly that the nurse plopped him on my chest and covered him with a blanket without telling us if he was a boy or a girl. Scott and I were crying and kissing and looking at our precious child, and for a few minutes we forgot that we didn't know if we had a son or another daughter. Finally, I looked up and said, "Wait! What is it?" The nurse laughed and said, "A baby!" Scott pulled the blanket off and checked and announced to the room, "It's a little boy!" And I said, "Well, hello, Caden."

Since that moment, we've had the most challenging, most rewarding, most precious two years of our life. I am so thankful that God chose me to be Caden's Mommy--he's a special little boy, and I've loved to watch him grow and learn. And I've learned so much from him as well.

Tomorrow we will wish you a very happy birthday, Caden Isaac. We love you so very much, and we are so thankful that you are in our life!