Happy Birthday Iceman!

Happy 8th Birthday Iceman! You bring such joy to our lives and we love you so much. We love your sense of humor, your intense line of right and wrong, your passion for all things fire rescue, your kindness warms my heart, your endless facial expressions and exhuberance to life make us all better for knowing you. Have a wonderful day!

I recently ran across all of my birthstories and thought I'd share Iceman's with you today.....

Volume 3 ~ Iceman~ July 31, 2000
Months 8 &9
Oh My Cow I didn’t think that this baby would ever get out of me. We had tried for 6 months to conceive Iceman, doesn’t seem like long to some of you, but for us who had 2 prior oops that’s a surprise pregnancies it seemed like an eternity. Once he was nestled in there he was quite comfortable. The last month or so I felt like complete crap, there is no other way to describe it. The pressure was so intense I was sure that if my water broke he’d come shooting out of me. I was miserable. Kodiak and La Diva played in our bedroom while I lay in bed. The Hero would put food on the bottom shelf of the fridge and dry snacks in our room and the kids would graze at their leisure. I felt like a complete failure as a Mommy.

Labor & Delivery
On July 31st I was induced at 9:30 am with the cervix gel. By the time we made it down to the car the contractions had started. We went for walks around the mall near the hospital and then home. The contractions were coming on very intense, stronger than I’d ever had with the prior labors. However, I just knew it wasn’t time to run to the hospital and wanted to stay home as long as I could. I made it til about 7:30 p.m. and then we made our way to the hospital. We were checked in right away b/c the Hero had made friends with all the nurses by bringing them Timbits on our many trips for non stress tests, etc during months 8 &9. He cleared and made beds for them while I was hooked up to the monitor. We got one of the new beautiful rooms in the overflow area and were pretty much the only ones there. I did many laps of the ward waiting for things to progress a bit faster. The contractions were extremely intense but I was not dilating very fast. By about 9 p.m. I was in bed, shaking uncontrollably and blacking out from the pain. The epidural was administered about 9:30 p.m. It took the edge off so that I was able to sleep for 20 minutes. When I woke up I was refreshed and ready to get started. They didn’t figure that I’d be dilated enough but were very surprised when they checked my progress. The started getting the bed set up for delivery, I started pushing and they figured it would be awhile as he was up quite high still but in about 4 pushes he was out, the doctor got in position just in time to catch Isaac. The room was very calm and peaceful. We had praise music playing softly in the background. In fact the song that was playing at the moment Iceman was born is called Joy and one of the lines is “let me be a joy to you always” very appropriate. Another perfect baby. I remember thinking that he was huge and so fair compared to the other two. He nursed immediately.

Post Partum Heaven
Third time smart. We reserved a private theme room and I was able to sleep in the same bed as my husband. He never left my side. I can’t tell you how awesome it was to wake up to the Hero holding Iceman and giving me the recoup time I needed. The nurses were fabulous!!! It was like being in a hotel and the almost had to kick us out.

First Weeks Afterwards
My Mom didn’t stay with me at all this time. Between La Diva and Iceman, the Hero and I had been separated for awhile and she probably would have been happier had we divorced rather than reconciled. Her reaction to our pregnancy announcement was basically “Whatever were you thinking?” We managed very well on our own. I had meals delivered every night for two weeks from the ladies of our church and I had done tons of muffin baking, casserole preparing beforehand. Iceman was a great baby and nursed without troubles. We had learned of chiropractic care by this time and he was adjusted when he was 3 days old. We would have done it immediately but he was born on a Friday. This was the easiest time I had as a mom because I had a network of people that lived in Cowtown that supported us through it. We knew others who had babies now and could share our war stories, breakdowns, and happiest moments. We think of Iceman as our covenant child because he is a symbol of how far God has brought us. He was even conceived during a marriage conference. His name was chosen because it means “laughter” and “victory”. Sarah laughed when God told her she would bear a child and six years ago I would have laughed too had anyone told me that my marriage would be what it is today. It would have been an impossible dream to me then but I now know that nothing is impossible with God.

I'm so thankful that God has chosen to bless our family so. I don't take it for granted for a minute. I know how much we have fought to get where we are today and I know that without Him we would be not be the family we are today. I try to count my blessings daily. Iceman is so good at knowing just when someone needs a snuggle and his ability to bring laughter to our lives has helped to break the tension, the disappointment and the stress that life can bring. He is a unique child, as all of ours are, but God seemed to know just what we needed to help knit us closer together and He graciously gave us that gift.

What are you thankful for? Take a look around you... life doesn't suck as much as you thought it did and even on the hardest days if you dig deep you can find the joy. Share with me what makes you thankful or join in with Fussy and her friends and make it a weekly exercise in remembering your joy.