on the day you were born, Grady James

on the day you were born, Grady James Immel

i'm writing as fast as i can tonight, feeling like i need to get in mia's birthday (which is tomorrow) and hen's birthday (which was 2 months ago) and your birth story. i want to remember all these details and my terrible memory PLUS our busy life makes me know if it's not written, it will be gone, long gone.

your actual due date was october 19, which is fun because it's your mamie's birthday! the pregnancy was pretty uneventful. i had to watch my sugars- diabetic with mia and also with you. i never got very big with you, even 2 weeks before i looked like some people do at 6 months. but man, i felt like i was going to POP! my belly was sooooo tight and i felt like there was zero room to spare. you got the hiccups often and would kick regularly in the evenings. made me think you'll be a night owl like daddy. i ate pretty healthy. i couldn't get enough hummus and jerky and almonds and all things protein. it was also the best peach season in years and we ate more peaches than ever. i loved spinach smoothies before pregnancy but couldn't stomach them during.

as the day got closer, our doctor said i wasn't dilated and we should probably set a date to induce. i felt so funny planning this- it seems so unnatural to set it based on our schedules and what day of the week would be most convenient. i really wanted to know exactly when it would happen to make sure the girls would be ready and mamie and molly would have their sub plans completed and grades in. i didn't want to have contractions and wanted to have my toenails looking great. aren't those all silly reasons! you decided you'd be the final say in all this!

we decided that thursday, october 16 would be the big day. wednesday the 15th was our first choice but dr. olvera wasn't available. well, tuesday the 14th, i had a visit and was thinking perhaps i would get admitted- had been having a few contractions and made daddy go with me, just in case. the bag was in the car and i was ready. unfortunately, dr. olvera said, nope! you aren't ready at all. see you thursday. whew-i thought! i called everyone and said, THURSDAY!

even though i was having some big contractions, i went to tutor mallory at the library. we finished up and i wanted (needed!!!) a pedicure so i went over and got one. as i watched modern family, i got contraction after contraction. i felt badly because my nail tech kept asking me something (are you having a baby? are you in pain? who knows) but i couldn't understand her and also didn't want any  "extras" so i kept saying "no, thanks".... she kept a close eye on me! i left and met everyone at home. i took a shower around 10 because man! my back was hurting and i was having some serious big contractions. i kept thinking of dr. olvera's medical assessment though- no, this baby isn't happening for a few days. well, after that shower, i tried to get some sleep but wasn't able to sleep- one after another. maybe i ought to be tracking these and see how frequently they are happening, i thought. i downloaded an app and was surprised to find they were about 5 minutes apart- and i was even missing some of them! when i realized that, i got a little freaked out and woke up your daddy. "i think i need to go to the hospital, even if they won't check us in. i'll just wait in the car." we called pop (dad? can you come over? i think we need to head to the hospital and he said "BABY TIME!!!" and hung up on me) and he was at our house SO FAST and we woke up henley and mia and loaded them up. they were a little sleepy but also excited for this bit of adventure!

around 12:15, we drove on down. after a painful drive to stone oak, we arrived at the hospital (after trying 3 different entrances which were all locked, made it to the labor and delivery unit. when i told them this was baby #3, they moved us along QUICK! I was checked and already at a 7! they rushed around- couldn't get my epidural until i had a iv, and my veins kept rolling. finally around 2 am, the anesthesiologist came and gave me some medicine that had the side effect of making my face itch like CRAZY! daddy thought i was going to scratch it off! finally, everything was working just right. they came and checked me out and said, hey- are you ready to push this baby out? and whoop! grady james, you popped right out into this world at 4:04am. the best part? it was october 15th, which would have been your nana's 70th birthday! i feel like even though she never got to meet you, you have this totally special bond of sharing a birthday with her! i'm sure she was watching all of the excitement of seeing little ole you arrive into this world, your daddy grabbing you right up and checking you out. you weighed 8 lbs 3 ounces and were 20 1/2 inches long. you had more hair than your daddy! :)

one funny thing that night was that daddy and i weren't completely agreed on your name! i knew i wanted grady but we had also tossed around the name august and just weren't fully decided. we thought probably john grady or grady james? well, during my labor, when the nurses asked, i told them you would be grady. and as soon as you were born, daddy said "grady james". that worked because if we had named you john grady immel, you and your uncle john would both techincally be "john immel" and that might have caused some confusion in life!

we had your big sisters come to the hospital (on their way to the zoo with mamie and molly) and they were pretty darn proud! after some checkups, we headed out of the hospital on thursday afternoon. we picked up chick-fil-a (a nugget platter) and headed home. we had a front porch full of adorable decorations from my mops friends- wipes and tractors and socks! streamers everywhere and pictures of you. the girls spent the night at mamie's house so we could settle in and your little life with us began!

i am crazy for you, little one. you have these giant dimples and bold eyebrows and twinkly eyes. you smile at everyone and are generally, the happiest baby we've had. you love your sisters and watch them all the time. they love to have you sit with them while watching tv and you often fall asleep in their laps. we take you everywhere- no time to sit around doing nothing- and you are the best. christmas shopping, eating out, playdates, storytime; you started this life as a part of a busy gang and can hang pretty well. we all have adjusted well to being 5 instead of the 4 we've been for so long. you are our favorite boy and we love you!

the day you were born, Mia Ruth

Even though it seems like it was just yesterday that you were born, my Mia, I need to write the details down for you.

For you have been such a surprise to me. A surprise that I was pregnant again, so soon after having Henley. A surprise that your delivery was so easy and quick. A surprise that you were so particular, when Henley was so easy. A surprise that you turned out to be such a happy little baby after months of tears.

I was in San Francisco with Mamie (my mom), Molly and Henley on a big huge, "trip of a lifetime" in the summer of 2010. We had gone to Seattle for Jessica's wedding and drove down the coast stopping at all the touristy stops until San Fran. We spent a week there, having a ball. We ate delicious food, especially the pot roast. And we even went back for it the next night. But in our hotel room, I threw up. Hmm, thought I. This is a funny, somewhat familiar feeling, as I sat down with nasuea in the shower. But I brushed it away. No way. At the airport, I smelled a man smoking a cigarette a long way off. The others hadn't noticed. My mom said, "Bonnie. Are you? Could you be?" No way.

We came home from our wonderful trip and I went to the grocery store. Of course I bought some tests, but felt like a crazy lady buying them with my 7 month old in the basket. And I waited until 4:30 in the morning to take one. And almost fell off the toilet. See, you were a surprise!
I didn't know how to tell your daddy, so I made a slide show of our trip pictures and tossed one in of the positive pregnancy test. I prefaced the slideshow with "I hope you don't decide to divorce me because of one of the pictures." And he said he thought that's what I was up to, with the whole slideshow scam. We were somewhat shell-shocked.

I was sick exactly like I was with Henley. Nothing could go down after about 4:30. I threw up everything. And David was sure you were a girl, since the sickness was the same. We'll see, I said.
I hadn't even gone to my new doctor for a regular visit. I was a bit nervous, during the ultrasound. "Yep! Congrats!" Dr. Gallagher said. I asked if my body was ready for this, so soon. "You'll be fine. You'll be great." she said.

I had to tell a bunch of people, my principal (her reaction: "YAY! I'm so happy for you!! It will all be fine."), my teaching partner (YAY! Excited!), our friends (What?!! Again, already?!). Everyone was surprised. But happy.

I trucked right on through the school year. Your due date was right around Valentine's Day- The 18th. I would have a little Christmas girl and a Valentine baby. Aww.

We went to find out if you were a girl or boy in September. We both were nervous. We even had Henley with us. The technician was so nice and even had kids 11 months apart. (Turns out LOTS of people have close, close babies. So we're all crazy. Or normal. Which is basically the same.) It's a..... GIRL! And we were excited. We knew how to do that. We had all the clothes. And bedding. And girl toys. And a name, Mia Ruth. Mia because David called his grandmother that and I had always wanted to name a little girl Mia. And Ruth because it was my mom's middle name.

I took my glucose test in November and got bad news. Gestational diabetes. Ugh. I was convinced the tests were wrong but sure enough, there were those high sugar levels. I had to attend a diabetes class and change my diet for you, little one. The week of Thanksgiving, no less. I found things that I was able to eat without affecting my levels (spaghetti with meatballs, yummy yum yum) and major no-no's (tortillas , cereal and pizza). No big glasses of milk. I ate sugar free turtles. Ate sugar free popsicles. Changed things up.

And went to the doctor. I went from school to the doctor, once and sometimes, twice a week. I was hooked to fetal monitors and turned in my kick count sheet (which I totally fudged each week, sorry, Dr. Higby) and was weighed ALL the time. The great thing was seeing you move and develop on all the millions of ultrasounds we got to have. You were a mover and a shaker. Sometimes you would move so much they get me to do the fetal monitor and then come back for the ultrasound- you would scoot right out of the way each time they tried to capture your pictures.

I was feeling pretty good all throughout the pregnancy. You didn't look that big in my tummy. The only thing that was killing me was my back! I think backs hurt a lot just being pregnant from carrying around 25 extra pounds. And then, squeezing a 20 pound kid on your hip doesn't help matters. Or trying to crawl around on the floor. Getting up is much.... slower.

As time got closer, you were measuring just great, my blood tests were great and Dr. Higby decided to bump you a week earlier. Just to be sure. We got to pick the date. Everyone wanted you to be a Valentine's Day baby. But we didn't want you to have to share your birthday with your class party every year and not get a day to yourself. The tenth? That sounded good. Deliver on Thursday and be home by the weekend. Perfect plan. Molly was home and Henley would be hanging out with Mamie and Pop while we were in the hospital.

The few days before you were born, a HUGE cold front swept across Texas. It was cold, cold, cold. I loved it because I was always hot anyways, but it put a damper on my wardrobe. I was having to wear Daddy's camo jacket because nothing warm enough zipped around my belly. On the Tuesday before, I decided that would be my last day at school. I hugged everyone and decided to have one relaxing day before being induced. Mamie, Molly and I ran errands at the mall. My diabetes doctor said I didn't have to come into my scheduled appointment and didn't care about my blood reading so we SPLURGED on a huge and delicious lunch at Bravo. I couldn't really wrap my brain around the fact that just hours later, I would be having you!
That night, I hugged Henley tight- we were going to leave around 4:30. I was supposed to be induced at 6:00 am so we wanted to be there at 5:00. The drive down was quiet and the highways were deserted. Plus- it was only 16 degrees! A chilly start for a little one!

Well, we got there and checked into a FULL waiting room. They told us that it was really crowded, many ladies had shown up in the night and were having babies and there were no open rooms. So we waited and waited. A few of the girls waiting were being sent home. They had been scheduled for today but their doctors wanted them to wait until the next day.I was so scared we were going to be sent home. I was READY to get the nervousness over and meet my sweet baby! Fortunately, they called Dr. Gallagher and she said- Nope, has to be today. Whew. So the nurse said to go walk around and we'll call you when we get a room for you. We waited, David got some breakfast while I watched and drooled- no food or water for me. Finally around 11, we got called and we went on up.

Our wonderful nurse got me all hooked up. I wasn't as nervous this go round. I mean, I was. But I knew what to expect. Dr. Gallagher came and broke my water and the show was on! She put me on the pitocin drip around 1:00 and the contractions started up QUICK. I wasn't prepared for how painful they would be, so fast. Larry and Betty were there and I couldn't even talk hardly. I got my epidural and man, that was pure heaven- again. Well, we had called Mamie and Pop and Molly and they were bringing Henley and were running a little behind. Around 4:00, I had to get David to go get the doctor- I thought you were just going to drop out onto the floor- you were that ready to come out. She walked in the door, and within 2 pushes, you came right out. THAT FAST. I looked at David and he was like, NICE WORK! :) Seriously, I was so relieved at the ease of the labor.

Everyone came on in to stare at the beautiful BIG brownhaired beauty. You weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces! No one was expecting such a little chunk. Thank goodness we didn't wait another week!! You were also long- 22 inches! Off the charts for a little lady. You were perfect- big eyes, soft, soft skin and looong feet. Your footprints didn't fit in the space on the page !

You had pretty low blood sugar, which they had expected. Probably because I hadn't eaten anything for a while- you were a hungry one. They had to monitor that closely for a few hours but otherwise, you were healthy and happy.

Henley came but couldn't see you that first night. She was proudly wearing her Big Sister shirt. She wasn't very big, but was so excited to see the "bebe". After all the celebratory drama, everyone went home and we moved into our room for the next 2 nights. We spent those days snoozing, nursing, and cuddling. You were so pretty. I remember David saying "You're so in love with her already." I was. You also loved it when Daddy would carry you around. I wasn't up and about too much and he was good at bouncing you and putting you to sleep.

We were definitely ready to head home. We couldn't wait for Henley to meet you and to sleep in our own beds. We picked up a Chick-Fil-A nugget tray (what else did you expect?) and some dunkin' donuts. We were set for meals for a while! :)

Henley loooved the new bebe in the house. She would wake up every time looking all over for the little one and peek over. "So cute", she would say.

You were a bad spitter upper. We would nurse and I would tip you up and it was like you never swallowed it down- it would just all dump everywhere. Frustrating. And you were hungry, every 3 hours, never missing a beat. After 2 weeks of a 14 month old, and brand new baby and no sleep, I needed some help! We switched to formula. And I felt guilty for a teeny bit- but after some sleep and Daddy helping with nighttime feedings, I was glad for the change. You still were terrible at remembering to swallow the bottle down and we used more burp rags than you could believe for about 3 months. You were also quite a bit more particular than Henley. You didn't sleep for long but wanted to sleep often. You didn't like the pacifier. You needed white noise or you wouldn't sleep. But you LOVED that sister of yours. She would come sit in my lap with you and you would be so happy. I thought my heart would burst sometimes, having my two little loves in my lap. But then Henley would wiggle too much and the bottle would fall on the floor and you would start screaming and poof- back to reality, mom.

Mia, you were not expected. A surprise from the start. But what a beautiful surprise to happen to our family. We love you, little one. You will probably surprise us all your life. And I will love every second of that.