Ten!

    It doesn’t seem possible that ten years have passed.  There is just no way it was a decade ago that I went in for a doctor’s appointment and was told it was time to meet my baby.  It was on July 11, 2001, that my midwife told me she wanted to induce labor and gave me the choice of that very day, the next, or the day after- but no later than that.  I was not ready to have a baby that day.  If I waited two days, my baby would be born on Friday the 13th.  It was an easy choice, I opted for the next day, the 12th of July.   Tim and I went to the hospital first thing in the morning, after dropping our 2 ½ year old daughter off at a friend’s house.  They hooked me up to all the I.V.’s and we were off and running.  Labor progressed nicely.  I made it most of the day without an epidural and then, just 45 minutes after I got it, they turned it off because baby’s heart rate was dropping dangerously.  Thankfully, at 5:01 pm, our baby boy was born perfectly healthy- with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and tied in a perfect knot.  He was a monkey right from the start- and not much has changed.  He loves climbing trees and, at times, walls.  He seems to take pleasure in pestering his siblings, and stirring up trouble around here.  Yet, he is also sweet and charming and impresses us all the time with his spirituality.  He is inquisitive and creative and so smart I sometimes have trouble keeping up with him.  He shares with me more than any of his siblings do, telling me all the time what he is thinking and how he sees the world.  He often asks deep or interesting questions I don‘t have answers for, so he and I discuss what the answers might be or learn together about new things. 
    Tomorrow we will celebrate the milestone of double digits!  It really does not seem possible that it has been ten years since I held my first newborn son in my arms.  When I look at him now though, with his mass of auburn hair, his mischievous smile, and his insightful ideas, I realize he really is growing up.  If only it wasn’t happening so quickly!!!!!!