the day Mel was born and an ode to being his mother..

The day Melvin was born... hummm... I remember waking up at around 7:00 a.m. (though in truth I'd been up all night having relatively powerful contractions)... and started walking around the house, using a rice bag for heat during contractions. Mark and I had taken a Hypnobabies class, which taught how to stay completely comfortable while at home during labor...so we really focused on what we'd been taught, and tried to do as much of the labor at home as possible.

It was a bit confusing though, because my contractions seemed to be sporadic. They would build for a couple of hours, and then 15 minutes would go by with nothing...so the rule of thumb of timing the contractions and all that wouldn't work...

At any rate, we called our midwife at 2:00 p.m., were at the hospital at three, (where we were monitored for an hour... and checked- I was dialated to 5, fully effaced, and Mel was fully engaged. I was admitted to the hospital at 4:00. Things went pretty smoothly until about 8:00... that's when my contractions became very powerful, and I wasn't sure if I could give birth naturally... but Mark and our midwife were so supportive and wonderful! I pushed through, literally, :) and delivered Mel naturally at 11:09 p.m. May 18th, 2008!

After giving birth I felt like I could do ANYTHING!!! I felt like SUPER WOMAN! What a rush! It was such an amazing experience.

When Mel was born, he was SO unhappy. The first glimpse I got of him, his face was all scrunched up and COMPLETELY grumpy looking, and of course he was screaming. :) Poor guy. It's not easy being birthed.

But that night was wonderful. Mark was exhausted, so fell asleep immediately. But Mel and I had all the energy in the world, and just laid there, in the dimly lit hospital room starring at each other.

I have completely fallen in love with him. This has been THE fastest, THE most rewarding, THE most fulfilling, THE best year of my life. It's amazing how instinctual mothering is-- one day, you don't have a baby, and the next you do- and you would HONESTLY do ANYTHING for them if they needed it.

All of a sudden hours spent holding your dear one are the best hours of your life, and you wouldn't trade them for ANY other activity. When invitations come to go the movies, out to eat, to go shopping, playing games, ANYTHING, nothing sounds quite as nice as staying home holding your baby,starring at all his perfect features, and thanking God He's made you a wife and mother.

There are days I feel lonely, and days when I feel like I've completely lost my own identity, or lost my mind because I don't know why he is upset... but really, those days don't matter.

And now, this tiny baby who could not even hold his head, is one. He army crawls as fast as any kitten can trot, :) he pulls himself to a stand on couches, tables chairs, and bathtubs. He can put himself to a sitting position ALL by himself, and can walk and run while holding on to our index fingers. He can creep up and down our couch all by himself. He can climb stairs. He loves to swing, and do ANYTHING outside. He can point at geese, ducks, rabbits, goats, cats, birds and planes, and loves to say "Dada," chase Mark, and tickle him. He loves reading, and to turn the pages. He loves feeding himself crackers, fruit, bread, pasta,cookies, and most recently, cake. :) He laughs the most when we feed the geese and goslings, and right before he goes to bed, because he's silly when he's tired.

I could go on and on about all the things I love about him- and the joy it gives me to see him grow. This is THE best.

I love Melvin, and I especially love Mark, because though most days are great, some aren't, and Mark is so sweet and helpful. He and Melvin are the best of buds. One of my favorite times of day are when Mark walks in the door from work, and Melvin hears and sees him- he gets anxious and excited and will laugh and squeal, and reach for my fingers so I will walk him over to Mark. It is very sweet. So, yes... I love my boys.