All About Ben!
Ben is turning 3 tomorrow. Where has the time gone? Yes, he is at a tough age where there are plenty of potty accidents, plenty of time outs, plenty of temper tantrums. But, he is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. He is filled with a very caring spirit who kisses you when you have a boo boo, who makes sure you are okay if you are hurt. He is very helpful, which is wonderful with Steve being gone so much. Watching him learn is very prideful. Sometimes it is amazing what comes out of his little mouth. I pray that he lives a life filled with health, happiness and love. He is on his way, and I am truly blessed to call him my son.
His birth story:
Sunday August 5th: I was 37w1d and I woke up with contractions. Steve was on day 3 of a 4-day trip. He was in Puerto Rico the night before and was enroute to EWR. I didn't think much of the contractions, and went along with my morning as usual. My mom, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews we up for the weekend. At one point we were sitting in the dining room having breakfast, and I could barely eat. The contractions were faint, but consistant.
At one point my sister actually said "August 5th...that is a good day for a birthday."
Fast forward a couple hours. My sister and her family left, and my mom stayed. Thank goodness!!!!
Around 11am I called my in-laws and told them that today may be the day! They were on stand-by.
Steve's plane landed in EWR at 12:21pm. At 12:22pm I kept calling his phone until he turned it on.
"Hi"
"Hi"
"I am having contractions"
"Stop kidding" (he was thinking that since my family was up we were playing a joke on him)
"No, I am not. They aren't totally consistant yet, but I have been having them since 7am. Steve, I am not telling you to come home, but I am telling you that I am having contractions."
Steve called his chief pilot. He explained this situation and his chief pilot said "let's not take any chances" and Steve got an emergency drop and got on the next flight home.
Meanwhile, a CA was junior manned to finish Steve's trip. Of course the CA was pissed, but once he spoke with the crew and knew the story, the junior manned CA was happy to help. Steve and the CA, at one point after Ben was home, exchanged kind words regarding the situation.
Once Steve was booked on the flight he had about 45 minutes to wait to board. He called me nervous as anything, sweating like crazy. Babies don't usually come at 37 weeks, so this was unexpected and not something he thought he would be doing that day.
The flight home was packed, and Steve got home around 5pm. At that point my contractions were still irregular but getting stronger and stronger.
At 7pm we left for the hospital. We arrived at 8pm and went right up to L&D. It was my first pregnancy and I was 37w, so when I arrived the nurses were almost postive that I would be sent back home. Well, low and behold I was 7cm and it was time to get the party started.
I went into the delivery room, got an epidural, and around 10pm started to push. I pushed a good 2+ hours, and at 12:31am (Monday, August 6th) Benjamin entered the world! His middle name is my maiden name. A bit of a side note: my father is the only of his siblings to come to the US from Poland. I am one of three girls. We are all married and took our husband's name. So, after us our sir name would die in the US. It was important to pass my name along, and I am thankful that Steve agreed.
We didn't know the sex, and everyone was telling me I was having a girl. So, when he came out all I could say was "it's a boy!" I think I must have repeated myself a good dozen times.
His birth story:
Sunday August 5th: I was 37w1d and I woke up with contractions. Steve was on day 3 of a 4-day trip. He was in Puerto Rico the night before and was enroute to EWR. I didn't think much of the contractions, and went along with my morning as usual. My mom, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews we up for the weekend. At one point we were sitting in the dining room having breakfast, and I could barely eat. The contractions were faint, but consistant.
At one point my sister actually said "August 5th...that is a good day for a birthday."
Fast forward a couple hours. My sister and her family left, and my mom stayed. Thank goodness!!!!
Around 11am I called my in-laws and told them that today may be the day! They were on stand-by.
Steve's plane landed in EWR at 12:21pm. At 12:22pm I kept calling his phone until he turned it on.
"Hi"
"Hi"
"I am having contractions"
"Stop kidding" (he was thinking that since my family was up we were playing a joke on him)
"No, I am not. They aren't totally consistant yet, but I have been having them since 7am. Steve, I am not telling you to come home, but I am telling you that I am having contractions."
Steve called his chief pilot. He explained this situation and his chief pilot said "let's not take any chances" and Steve got an emergency drop and got on the next flight home.
Meanwhile, a CA was junior manned to finish Steve's trip. Of course the CA was pissed, but once he spoke with the crew and knew the story, the junior manned CA was happy to help. Steve and the CA, at one point after Ben was home, exchanged kind words regarding the situation.
Once Steve was booked on the flight he had about 45 minutes to wait to board. He called me nervous as anything, sweating like crazy. Babies don't usually come at 37 weeks, so this was unexpected and not something he thought he would be doing that day.
The flight home was packed, and Steve got home around 5pm. At that point my contractions were still irregular but getting stronger and stronger.
At 7pm we left for the hospital. We arrived at 8pm and went right up to L&D. It was my first pregnancy and I was 37w, so when I arrived the nurses were almost postive that I would be sent back home. Well, low and behold I was 7cm and it was time to get the party started.
I went into the delivery room, got an epidural, and around 10pm started to push. I pushed a good 2+ hours, and at 12:31am (Monday, August 6th) Benjamin entered the world! His middle name is my maiden name. A bit of a side note: my father is the only of his siblings to come to the US from Poland. I am one of three girls. We are all married and took our husband's name. So, after us our sir name would die in the US. It was important to pass my name along, and I am thankful that Steve agreed.
We didn't know the sex, and everyone was telling me I was having a girl. So, when he came out all I could say was "it's a boy!" I think I must have repeated myself a good dozen times.
Steve took FMLA and was off for 8 weeks...and boy was that a blessing. Ben was colic and very difficult, so it was great to have him home!
To illustrate the colic:
At 8 weeks, Steve went back to work, I went back to work and Ben was off to "school." This picture is of our first day back, and this may be one of my most favorite pictures of all time:
Here are my favorite pictures of the last 3 years:
Happy 1st Birthday!
Happy Halloween - Ben aka Woody Hayes
Sanibel Island
Ben is a BIG BROTHER!!!
2nd birthday:
Daddy always makes things better!
BFF
CC's 1st Birthday
Awww, that's so exciting! Brian said that Mother's Day picture should be in a baby catalog...Happy Birthday Benjamin!!
ReplyDeleteSo cute!! It's amazing how much he looked exactly like he does now when he was so little (he was just littler!) Happy Birthday Ben! We hope it's a great day!
ReplyDeleteRuth & fam
Happy Birthday Ben!
ReplyDelete