An Extra Digit!

Looking up at daddy!


Braden at 7 months

I'm a little late on this one but we have had a busy time lately!!

We have an added digit to our family! It is bitter~sweet for me to announce that Braden is now 10 years old! And he couldn't be more excited about hitting the big 1-0 milestone!! I'm so thankful to God for his gift of Braden to our family! It's sad and also scary to think our time with him in our house, under our authority and influence, is half over. It seems just like yesterday we were finding out our first baby was a boy!! We were thrilled! Both of us wanted a boy first to protect his little sister that we thought for sure would be next. But God (i love those two words!) had in His plans to give us two more boys after Braden before we'd get a girl!

During the latter half of pregnancy I was having Braxton Hicks Contractions and terrible back pain. I remember having to go to the physical therapist to learn some exercises and stretches to try to alleviate the pain. They gave me this belt that put pressure on my sacrum to try to help the bones stay inline. Due to a hormone that's released when you're pregnant your ligaments soften and allow the joints in your body to become loose, for obvious reasons. Well it was so bad in my back that at times when I'd step my back couldn't support me and my leg would collapse. I only had one incident in a parking lot where I twisted my ankle a bit, other than that it was just painful. So nearing the end of my pregnancy I was READY to be done. As I mentioned I was having contractions and about 3 1/2weeks before my due date I was having them about every 3-5minutes. We decided we should go to the hospital and see if this was it! Once we arrived they started an IV before they even checked me. The nurse that was trying to get my IV in wasn't doing very well. She kept poking me and couldn't get it in. Then I started bleeding a lot and turned pale. I remember Ben running to get a wet washcloth for my forehead and I just laid back and tried to snap out of it! Such a wierd feeling. So after all that they checked me, I hadn't changed from my appt and didn't change the few hours I was in the hospital so they sent me home. Ugghh! All that pokin' for nothin'! So a week and a half goes by and on Labor Day (of all days) I go into labor (real labor). I had some contractions all day off and on and at around 8:30 we decide to go into the hospital. I was contracting but not progressing too quicklly so they broke my water and promptly had an epidural soon after. It didn't take so well, so I could feel pain on one side but not the other. The anesthesiologist had to come back in and re-place my epidural. After that I could feel nothing and it was only about a half-hour from then that I was complete and ready to push. Thankfully I only had to push through a few contractions (9minutes) and he was born. At 6lb 10oz(almost our littlest) our firstborn, was here!! We were thrilled and enjoyed showing off our new gift to family and friends!!

It was on 9-9-99 when we walked out of the hospital with our new little one, and I remember thinking "how could they just let us walk out of here, we don't know anything about a tiny baby" We were on our own and so excited about the journey of parenting that lay before us! Oh what a journey it's been! The joy that comes with parenting is indescribable and the struggle to be self-sacrificing is well, still a struggle. I love my Braden and all the gifts that came after him and am ever grateful that God has called me to be their mother!

Braden and his best bud and cousin!