Zach is four today, and I can hardly believe how quickly four years have passed. I so clearly remember my positive pregnancy test, finding out we were having a boy, deciding on his name, going to the hospital to be induced, and Zach finally (only about 24 hours after we started the induction!) getting here. I also remember that even though it seemed to take forever, labor and delivery didn't seem so bad. Once I got the epidural (a lot earlier than I had planned, but I had to have a catheter so I couldn't get up and try anything I learned in my labor & delivery class), I took naps, Mike and I played cards, I wowed the nurse with my Jeopardy skills, and I watched my first ever Dancing with the Stars, even though I'd said how dumb that show was when I first heard about it (now I love it). I remember how I didn't really want a sleeping pill that night we went to the hospital, but the nurse talked me into it, and then I remember her and Mike laughing at me because that thing threw me for such a loop- I felt like I was completely drunk. It was weird. When the doctor broke my water the next morning, there was meconium, which is not good because then the baby could ingest that meconium once he comes out and breathes for the first time, so the doctor and nurses were prepared for some quick action once he came out. Then I think as labor dragged on and on I developed a fever, and so Dr. Olesen and the nurse were watching that closely. I'd have to ask Mike for sure, but I think that I was starting to get pretty close to needing a c-section because things just weren't progressing. I was due on June 3, 2005, and we started the induction on Tuesday night, June 7. After 45 minutes of pushing and the help of a lovely vacuum, Zach was born at 10:03 p.m. on June 8, 2005. I never watched the video of that night until about 15 months ago, when Zach and I watched it together right before Drew was born. (Don't worry, there's nothing graphic in it.) It was then that I realized how it wasn't just a normal delivery. As soon as Zach was born, a special team of doctors (maybe from the NICU?) came in and checked him out. Everyone was very quiet and serious, and watching this all on video made me very grateful that I was oblivious to the seriousness of it all at the time it was happening. They barely let me hold him before they whisked him away to the nursery for some tests, which I think were all a result of my fever- I think they were worried he had an infection. They also had both Zach and me on oxygen, which didn't seem so weird to me at the time, but there was no extra oxygen involved when Drew was born, so I now realize that's not quite normal. Everything seemed to be fine, though, so after what seemed like a long time, Zach came back up to the room and Mike finally got to hold him.
Here we are as a new family of three.
This is after he came back from the nursery, where Mike ran into one of my good friend's husbands. They had had their son that same day!
And here's the sweet boy the next day, sleeping peacefully.
Here's Zach on his first birthday. It's interesting to look at this and compare it to Drew. Zach definitely had more hair, and I think a more square face.
Here's Zach at his second birthday party, eyeing the Cookie Monster cake I made, which turned everyone's teeth blue.
This is one of Zach's 2-year pictures. I remember that the lady at Great Clips cut his hair super short, and I couldn' t believe how old it made him look. Now I look at it, and he doesn't look old at all!
This is Zach and me from his third birthday party last year.
Today has been a busy day. Zach started t-ball today, and we started up music with our friend Moira again. We did music with Moira for 2 years, from Zach's first birthday through last summer, and then Moira took another job and couldn't teach the private class anymore. But, she's teaching a class for a few weeks this summer, and we couldn't be more excited. So getting to go to music today was a great birthday treat for Zach.
Tonight I went to work out and Grandma Linda and Grandpa Curt came over to watch the boys for me. They picked up some dinner from Z'Mariks and it was waiting for me when I got home. Then my friend Melody came over. I've mentioned Melody before- she's on my soccer team and works out at the same place I do. She also runs the Grasskicker's soccer program that Zach goes to, and Zach thinks Melody is the cat's meow. When we first started talking about his birthday, he had 2 main people he wanted to invite- Paige, my friend's daughter who is one of 2 girls in our playgroup amongst a bunch of boys, and Melody. Melody can't make it to his actual party, though so she was kind enough to come over tonight and have some leftover birthday cake with us. It's leftover cake because I made it last night for when we got together with our church friends. I let Zach pick out the kind of cake he wanted, and he picked strawberry because it's pink.
Here's Zach and Melody as we were singing to Zach.
Drew thinks singing the Happy Birthday song is pretty fun, too.
And an action shot of Zach blowing out his candles.
As he does with most people he loves, Zach had to take Melody down to the basement for a little soccer playing. I think Zach ended up winning 10-7 or something.
I found the easiest way to get Zach out of the basement quickly is to tell him there's a birthday present waiting upstairs for him. So we went up and he opened his present from Mike's grandpa. It's a little pirate island, which will go great with the big pirate ship Zach will be getting from Mike and me the night of his birthday party.
Zach's been asking for a dollhouse for his birthday, but we thought a castle might serve the same purpose but get a little more use in the long run, so that's what Grandma Linda and Grandpa Curt got for him. Here's a little video clip.
For some reason I can't fix the blue font, but that's ok because I'm pretty much done. Seems as though the format's weird now, too. It's been a great fourth birthday with Zach, and I'm so lucky to have such a sweet son. This morning I had a birthday card waiting for him when he got up, and he loved it. Then he very quickly sat down and made me a card. What a sweetie. It's been a great four years.
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