Birthday Boy!

Gavin is one year old today! I can't believe a year has already passed since his birth. He has been our little bundle of joy and we feel very grateful he's part of our family.

Gavin has made much progress this past year:

• He's more than tripled his birthweight. That takes a lot of work! Can you imagine tripling your weight in one year??
• He sits.
• He crawls.
• He eats solid food.
• He's grown 8 teeth.
• He claps and waves bye bye.
• He knows the signs for "milk", and "more" and is learning to use them in context.
• When you say "So big!" he raises his hands above his head.
• He says many words: Mama, Dada, nana, baba, and all those other sounds babies make.
• He says "doggie." He even barks like a doggie
• He sings! When I sing he sings with me. LOVE. IT.
• He loves to laugh.
• He gives us big, open mouth, slobbery kisses on our cheeks.
• He's got a lot of hair. He's already gotten two haircuts.
• He explores. He's busy. His daily chore: taking the dvds off the shelf.
• He likes to tease and loves to get a reaction. And when he does, he'll make sure he does it again and again.

That's a lot of progress in one year! Chad and I were talking about what we should get him for his birthday and Chad suggested he'd be happiest if we just got him a wastebasket with a few tissues in it. :)

Checkin out the first snow

Like father, like son

For a child their birthday is exciting because they get to be another year older and they get to celebrate with parties and presents. For me their day o' birth is the day I reflect on their birth and how they changed my life forever. I've been thinking a lot lately of Gavin's birthday.

This is his Story:

On February 16th, 2011 around 5pm I got a text from the birthmom that said 'My water broke I'm heading to the hospital.' I wrote back, What????? I'll meet you there.' She wrote back, 'Not too soon I haven't even packed yet.' I was in the middle of browning meat for tacos that night. I paced around my house a couple times then went back and finished browning my meat. All the while my mind was reeling with excitement and a little bit of panic. In true Wendy fashion, I hadn't even packed, even though the birthmom was going to be induced the next day. That was going to be that evening's project. My water broke 3 days early with Ethan and I wasn't packed then either. It's the procrastinator in me.

After I finished the meat and felt a little calmer I called Chad with the news. He was still at work. Ethan was at a friend's house. My carpets had just been cleaned and were wet. And I couldn't think straight. I was able to think enough to grab Ethan's pillow, a change of clothes, and a toothbrush. I'm not even sure what I packed for Chad and I. We had to go back home a couple times just to get stuff for us.

I went and picked Ethan up at his friend's and took him up to Courtney's house. Chad was meeting me at the hospital. I'm pretty sure I showed up at the hospital even before the birthmom. Somehow the 4 of us - BM and her friend, Chad, and I ended up at the elevator to go up to triage at the same time despite the fact that we'd all come from different places. It wasn't how I imagined it. It was kinda humorous and I must say, a little awkward.

Then the waiting began. We waited in the triage waiting room. Then she got admitted and we waited in another waiting room. We had gotten to the hospital at about 6pm and by 11pm they were able to get us into a hospital room meant for adoptive families. The BM was still at a 4 so we knew it'd be a while. So we got comfy in our room and watched some tv. I fell asleep around 12 midnight and woke up at 1:30am. We had been keeping in touch with the BM via text and we hadn't heard from her in a while. When I woke up I was feeling very anxious, not knowing how she was doing and what was going on. My stomach hurt with anxiety and I had to get out of the room. So Chad and I wandered down a floor and looked in at all the babies in the nursery. It was strange to think our baby would be joining his fellow birth cohorts soon. We wandered down to the 2nd floor where the BM was in labor and delivery. We talked to her nurse to find out how she was doing. She had just checked her and she was still at a 4 and the nurse was hoping she'd have the baby by the time she got off work at 7am. Knowing it'd be a while til she had the baby, we wandered back up to our room and changed back into our jammies. Literally 10 minutes after we had gotten back in our room the BM texted and told us to come down, she was about to push. All the excitement and panic returned. This was it, we were about to meet our baby. We rushed down there and I went into the room with the BM and her two closest friends who'd been with her the whole time. Chad wandered around the hall while he waited.

Being in the room was very surreal. I couldn't believe it was actually happening. I couldn't believe I was there. I couldn't believe I was about to meet my baby. I was feeling emotional but made sure to keep it in. I didn't want to start crying quite yet. I stayed up by the BMs head as I promised I would. As she started pushing, one of the friends told me to look as she was able to see his head crowning. I peaked and then stepped back and held back the tears. Although, I may have shed a tear or two at that point. I can't remember. With another push the friend told me to look as Gavin's little face had come out. And that's when I lost it. That's when the tears just started flowing. Even when I talk about that moment now, I cry. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. To watch Gavin be born is a complete gift I will always cherish. Not all adoptive parents get to be there at their child's birth and I feel so grateful I got to be there for that very moment that he entered this world and took his first breath. He was born on February 17 at 5:06am.

As the doctor held him and cleaned him up a little, the two nurses in the corner who were waiting to check his apgar and all his vitals, motioned for me to go over there. I stood there in awe, just watching as they did all the necessary testing. They wrapped him up and I followed them out into the hallway where I held him for the first time and where Chad was waiting. It was amazing and so surreal. We followed the nurses up to the nursery where he had his first bath and we fed him his first bottle. I loved being physically well. I loved being able to be there for all his firsts. We spent the next day or two in the hospital where Gavin barely left our side. He spent most his time with us in our room. We just held him and loved him and bonded with him. Courtney brought Ethan to meet him that morning. To watch Ethan as he got to meet his brother was such a special moment. You could just feel the love. We LOVE our little Gavers!! Happy Birthday sweet baby!