We're having a baby!

     First off, I love being a mom.  I love my boys.  I could never have imagined how awesome it is to be a mom and I love it!  Will is my 3rd boy.  When I found out I was pregnant with him I was just as excited as when I was pregnant with my other 2 boys.  Mike and I were both very excited and humbled to become parents again.  My previous pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage and so we were a little nervous, but very hopeful.  We couldn't help but be excited and full of love for this new little person that would hopefully come to our family.  This pregnancy was fine other than I was very sick and nauseous a lot more than I had been with the other boys.  I couldn't even drink regular water without throwing it up.  But like any other mom- I knew it would be worth it!

 Our other boys, Carter (7) and Matt (4), were excited to be big brothers.  When we found out this baby would be another boy Carter cried because he wanted a sister- he already had a brother.  Matt was sad because he felt bad that I was the only "grirl" in our family (so he told me that when he grows up he'll marry me and we'll have a baby "grirl" and then I wouldn't be by myself).  I love those two!  I personally was very excited and relieved to be having another boy- girls scare me!  Anyway, we started talking about what we should name our baby.  The boys were full of ideas like Santa, Leprechaun, Frankenstein, and Luigi.  What it came down to is that we could only agree that his middle name would be Michael after his dad.  We also started talking about what our house would be like with a baby.  Carter assured me that he would get up in the night and take care of the baby so that I could sleep and not be so tired.  Matt was worried that the baby wouldn't like him.  I told him that of course our baby would love him- but that the baby wouldn't be able to play or talk at first, so the way he would know the baby loved him was that the baby would hold his finger.  Both Carter and Matt were happy and excited for our new baby and they would daily hug my belly and tell the baby that they loved him.
     As the end of summer got closer we got more and more excited for our baby.  I was REALLY hoping that he would be born on the 22nd because Carter and Matt's birthdays are also on the 22nd- just of different months.  I went in to the doctor on the 21st and he said we were close enough and the baby was fine- if I wanted to have the baby the next day- on the 22nd- he could make that happen.  I was excited and made the appointment then went to my car and called Mike to let him know we were going to have a baby the next day.  I told him the news and didn't get the reaction I wanted.  He didn't say anything for a while.  Finally he just said that he didn't feel good about it.  He said that he would do what I wanted though.  We talked a while longer and he left it up to me, but I didn't feel good about it either.  So with my face red and swollen with tears running down my cheeks, I got out of my car and waddled back up to the doctor's office to cancel my appointment.  (The office ladies looked like they felt so sorry for me!)  I was still desperately hoping that the baby would come the next day anyway- on his own.  But he didn't.
     A few days later, at around 3:00 AM on the 26th I woke up having a contraction.  No big deal, but I couldn't go back to sleep.  I ended up getting out of bed and doing random things around the house (rearranging book shelves, organizing the shoes in our shoe bench, etc.- I look back and think "seriously!?!") and the contractions gradually got more painful and closer together.  Around 5:30 I started to get ready for the day just in case I would end up going to work.  But then I thought that it would be better to get checked by the doctor first. So instead of heading off to work at my normal time I stayed home and starting making lots of pancakes (Matt will eat pancakes at every meal if we let him!).  It was the first day of school so I thought that the boys would love pancakes and then we'd have extras for them in the fridge to eat  just in case the baby was born.  After a while Mike came downstairs and asked what I was still doing home.  He wondered why I wasn't at work, and was I going to go?  Would I get in trouble?  I told him that chances were I was not going to work because we were going to go to the hospital instead.  I told him that before we went I wanted to be there to drop the other two boys off first.  Matt was already supposed to spend the day at my mom's house so we went there first.  She and my dad were surprised to see me, but I told them that I wanted to help drop off Carter on his first day of school.  I didn't think they noticed that I was having contractions while we were talking.  We then took Carter to school. 

We got some pictures of him in his new class sitting at his new desk.  He was so excited!  I just didn't want anything to take away from that first day of school excitement and I definitely didn't want him worrying about me all day.  By the time we got to the hospital my contractions were less than 2 minutes apart.  I was so glad that I got to drop each of my other boys off though! 
     We got in to the hospital, and less than 2 hours later, with no anesthesia, our perfect little baby boy was born.  He was so beautiful with a head full of lots of dark hair.  He was perfect.  He was so cute!  As I gazed into his sweet face I was so grateful to have him and was overcome with love for him. Oh, I just LOVE that little baby boy!

Mike and I were so happy to have him finally here.  I love that Mike is such a good dad!  He loves our boys so much and you can just see on his face how happy they make him.  Proud Papa!

That's when the doctor told me there was a problem with his left foot...