Someone I know just turned 10!!

(I regret to announce that the camera gods have conspired against us, so I may have a few pics of Isaac's family party to share and I may not -- but they will not be posted until tomorrow.)
That's right. The big one-O. Double digits.
Isaac turned 10 while we were in Texas.
I would have blogged about this sooner, but we did not have an Internet connection the whole time we were away.
It's unbelievable to me that my first son has been with us for a decade.
It seems like we just had him.
And it seems like he has been with us forever.
He is becoming quite the little man.
He certainly is the best ten year old I know.

The Story of Isaac
I found out that I was pregnant with Isaac December 4th, 1997, a day before his dad's birthday. It was difficult to keep the secret, but I managed to do it for one day, and on Joe's birthday, the last gift he got from me was a handsomely wrapped package containing a plastic stick with two pink lines on it.
We were both pretty thrilled!
That lasted about two days.
By that weekend, I was so sick, I couldn't even think about eating without throwing up. I couldn't smell anything without being sick. Everything I saw made my eyes water and my stomach churn. I was miserable!
I was still thrilled about the baby, but it was so hard to think about the end result when I was constantly face to face with the toilet bowl and my stomach felt like it had waged an all out rebellious mutiny on the rest of my body.
I prayed a lot and cried a lot and threw up a lot.
I lost more than 35 pounds (not a weight loss plan I recommend, however).
Eventually, I was sick less and less, I could eat more and more, and I was feeling better and better.
By late April, I was feeling like a person again, and though I was still nauseated most of the time, I was holding things down and feeling the baby move. There is nothing like that feeling in the world!! It is by far my favorite feeling.
By that time we knew we were having a boy, and had his name picked out. Isaac Nathaniel. His name means: laughter, gift of God. Boy, were we right on that one! He has been such an incredible source of joy and laughter in our home. There were other reasons for his name, too, and he will know them all.
Our due date was August 9, 1998, and by June I was feeling better and loving my pregnancy.
Saturday, June 27th, Joe and I were watching the news, I was painting my nails (something I was not to do again for many years :) and around 10 we decided to go to bed as we had to be at church the next morning.
I stood up, and a rush of water ran down my legs.
"I think my water just broke," I nervously told Joe. We were six and a half weeks away from the due date, and I knew that was dangerous.
I called the hospital, we called Theresa Forbes who immediately came over, and we called my family in New Jersey to let them know what was happening.
We rode to the hospital in the Forbes' van.
The ride was tense and scary, and I cried silently most of the way. And I prayed.
When we got there, they confirmed that my water had indeed broke and informed me that it was no going back now. Once that happens, the baby is on the way.
Isaac had not dropped, and was not ready for this big, cold world.
A simple test of the fluid around him showed that his lungs were not developed, and things looked very somber indeed.
I pushed for nine hours to get him down and in ready position.
I was exhausted and full of emotion.
My epidural had only numbed one side of my body, so I was in some pain.
Finally, after I thought I had nothing left, I gave one final push and Isaac was born.
He was crying and was so pink, at first they gave him a good Apgar score.
He was 6 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long
But then he began to crash rapidly, and they wrapped him up and whisked him away to the NICU.
I threw up and passed out.
I have no memory of the rest of that night.
The next day it began to be clear just how much danger Isaac was in.
He lungs had not inflated and he was given Surfactin in an attempt to get him to breathe on his own.
I saw him for the first time that day. He was a sight to behold. A tiny being hooked up to wires and tubes, muffs on his ears and cotton over his eyes, IVs in his tiny limbs. He was laying on his stomach on square of lamb's wool. And there was a shock of dark dark hair sticking up all over his head.
He was beautiful!
Everything inside of me wanted to hold him, but it would be a week before I was able to do that.
I leaned my forehead against the warm plastic of the incubator and, crying softly the whole while, began to say his name, and to tell him I loved him, and to pray to God to spare his tiny, precious life.
Seeing him for the first time that day was the best/worst moment of my entire life.
The next two weeks were a series of ups and downs as we traveled back and forth to the hospital.
Every small step was miraculous! I remember holding him for the first time, and the first time I got to feed him.
Finally, on July 13, we brought him home. Mom and dad were there for our last night in the hospital, and left right before we got him home.
The first several weeks, Isaac was on monitors at home and oxygen. He had home health visits three times a week.
About three months after he was born, he was exceeding the expectations that the doctors and medical community had for him.
He truly is our miracle baby (well, okay . . . not such a baby anymore).
And he has been true to his name. He has filled our home with joy and laughter, and is a blessed gift of God.
Isaac is a thinker, a visionary and a tender-hearted warrior. Make no mistake about the warrior part. He expresses himself in a way few adults can. He always has. He is full of life and wonder and curiosity and energy. He soaks up knowledge like a sponge. At ten, he has long range goals for his life, and has asked his dad to help buy him furniture when he moves out to attend college. He's a pretty amazin' young man. I am proud that he is my son.
I love you, Isaac! Happy Birthday my not-so-little-anymore man!

How we celebrated
We were traveling on Isaac's actual birthday.
We stopped at IHOP for brunch and began the trek home from Texas.
We talked about the day he was born, what is was like.
He wanted to know what the weather was like, and I told him I didn't see the outside that whole day, so I'm not really sure about that.
We stopped at a western wear shop before crossing into Oklahoma, and the boys got to pick out genuine certified cowboy hats. They got some shirts and bandannas too. Dad and mom got cowboy (and cowgirl, respectively) hats also.
Hey, it was Texas. We had to.
We got in really late that evening, so the next day Isaac got to open one gift from us. It was a baseball signed by Derek Jeter. He was thrilled. It will compliment his baseball room rather nicely.
Monday night, we went to Pizza Hut with our family, as that was where he wanted to celebrate his decade year.
Patty and Gramp and MeMe and Uncle Pat were there. Miss Amy came too. We had the place all to ourselves! It was so much fun. We joked that we rented out the whole restaurant just for him. I guess no one else wanted pizza that night.
We went back to gramp's for cake and presents.
He had a really good time, and got some things that he was wanting. He is getting older now, so his wish lists are changing quite a bit.
When we got home, Dad and Isaac and Josiah and Uncle Pat stayed up way too late playing the Indiana Jones version of Monopoly(thank you, cousin Patty).
Saturday, we are having a surprise party for him that his schoolmates are invited to. MeMe is doing a Lego Star Wars theme. He doesn't know a thing about it. Mums the word!

Playing catch up

I have not been feeling well the past couple of days, and opted for sleep over blogging the past two nights, but now I am ready to play catch up and fill you in on the goings-on.
Wednesday, Josiah turned SIX!!!
The celebrating began in his kindergarten class, where he had a class party.
There was cake and chocolate milk and balloons and I read Cowboy and Octopus, a hysterical story about an unlikely friendship.

This year, Josiah is into cowboys and horses, so that is the theme of the celebrations.
After school, Jo opened gifts from Joe, Isaac and I. He got an MP3 player, some books about horses and drawing, clothes, a Star Wars Lego set, a dragon kite, and horse riding lessons which will begin in May.
Patty, mom, Joe, the boys and I went to the Deli at Jo's request, but I was feeling so sick, I went back to the truck and slept. Bummer.
After dinner, we went home, and got ready for homegroup -- I went to sleep. I understand there was a celebration for Jo then, also.
He had a good day.
The birthday festivities continued Thursday night at family dinner.
We had his favorite meal, pasta fagoli! (It's one of my favorites, too!)
Then he opened gifts from MeMe and Grandpa.

It was pretty extreme -- skateboard, helmet, knee pads, roller-shoes!
He had a blast trying everything out. He is a cautious kid, but once his tests his limits, there is nothing he will not try.

Today, we are taking a little birthday break, but tomorrow he has his "friend party".
The theme?
Cowboys, of course.

The story of Josiah . . .
It was a Tuesday, April 9, 2002, when I began to feel regular contractions.
I was a warm day, a gorgeous day, and I had been vacuuming when I doubled over and thought, excitedly, "I think this is it!!"
I wasn't sure, because I didn't really feel contractions with Isaac. My water broke with him and it was too early for him to arrive. His birth was a completely different experience from what was about to happen.
My doctor and the hospital I was going to use for Josiah's birth was a 45 minute drive, so I called my doc and asked if I could come in and get checked. He agreed it would be a good thing to do.
I was three weeks early, but Isaac had been 61/2 weeks premature, and I knew early delivery was a possibility for me.
Joe and I took Isaac to grandma and grandpa's and went to the doctor's office.
When I got there, the news was stunning. I was dilated to a 5 and 80% effaced.
The decision was made to admit me and get the ball rolling, so to speak.
Joe and I went over to the hospital, got admitted and I was taken to a delivery room where they broke my water.
Jen Forbes, Patty and Emily were all in the room with us while I labored, but only for about 10 minutes.
At my first strong contraction, Jen began to cry, and the girls were led to the waiting area. Josiah was on his way.
The anaesthesiologist was called and I was given an epidural.
Joe and I laughed and talked and held hands, waiting to see our new little son. It was exciting, and relaxing.
Then, the nurse said, "I'll get the doctor. You are ready to push."
The doctor came in and three pushes later, there was Josiah, so beautiful and wailing his head off.
It was 4:20 in the afternoon when he arrived.
I always say having Josiah is the easiest thing I have ever done, and it is true.
I was allowed to hold him for a while, but he was so upset at being out in the cold, harsh world, and he was taken to the nursery to get washed up and tended to.
Joe went with him, overseeing his care.
After a time, Joe returned and said they were going to keep Josiah in the NICU for observation because it looked like his nostrils were flaring and they wanted to make sure he could breathe.
This was scary for me because Isaac was in the NICU for 2 1/2 weeks while his lungs developed and he could breathe on his own. It was a terrifying time for Joe and I and I did not want to relive any of it.
Finally, at 10 p.m., they wheeled Josiah into the room in his little bassinet, and he was snuggled warm in his blankets, sleeping peacefully.
I've done this three times now, and each time I was handed one of my sons for the first time, a sense of overwhelming joy and awe came over me, and I cried and laughed and just stared at him for the longest time.
There were a faithful few there, waiting it out to see Josiah. Micah and Patty and Jen and Emily. They were some of the first people to meet him and hold him.
And that is the story of how Josiah came to be a part of our family.
To me, Josiah is a quiet storm, generally laid back, but with passion that resides deep in his soul. He is tender and gentle and full of compassion. He is a very selfless kid. He is a helper. He is brave. He is a little lion cub.
Well, maybe not so little anymore. . .